The Silver Sea
by Juunanagou4ever
Summary: He was a prince who had never understood love, she was a princess who never understood herself, when the two are brought together, they began to understand all that they couldn't before, and much more. Only one catch, he's engaged to her sister...
1. Prologue

**                                                                        The Silver Sea**

            Because I have been having MAJOR writer's block on The Apple Tree, I have decided to release the prologue of its companion, The Silver Sea, bit earlier than my intentions, but I certainly hope that you will enjoy this story.

            I dedicate this story to … 

**_            S-Cubes_ ~ For being such a fantastic friend, (and for being a fellow Veggie-torturer ^-^)**

**_           Parron_ ~ For being my Japanese tutor, (and for telling me what Ecchi _really _means ^^;;)**

**_           T/ptears_ ~ For cheering me up when I'm down right angry, (and for being such a great dancer ^~)**

**_                                                                            Prologue_**

The sun shone brightly upon the sea, making every ripple of water shimmer like a drop of jewel. The sea was so clear that one could spot fish swimming in the water, and the water was so clean that it was considered neither green nor blue, but a beautiful shade of silver.

Perhaps that's why it was called the Silver Sea.

On the northern coast of the mystical sea lies the Kingdom of Beijita, a country far more interested in armies and wars than in the agricultural and intellectual areas. Its ruler was a powerful king, sometimes considered a tyrant, his name was Vegeta.

Some say that the only thing keeping him from a greedy and power-hungry ruler was his fair and kind wife, Queen Bulma. She was every bit as lovely as the Greek goddess Aphrodite, her cobalt blue hair flowed down to just below her slender knees, her eyes shone like two gorgeous sapphires. And others say that it was her never-ending beauty that had made King Vegeta notice her, he was quite handsome himself, with his spiky, ebony hair and his stern, yet reassuring onyx eyes. His arms bulged with powerful muscles, and his teeth shone like pearls, no one really knows the story of how they met and how they had fallen in love.

But this story is neither about King Vegeta nor Queen Bulma, it was about their son, Prince Trunks. And also about him realizing what friendship and inner beauty was all really about.

Prince Trunks was the elder of him and his sister, their ages were separated by thirteen years. Since Princess Bra had just turned eleven years of age, Prince Trunks was now twenty-four years old. He was nearing the age when he would wed the next Queen of his kingdom. Which would be no problem at all. He was so handsome that girls often fell to their knees just upon the sight of him, he had inherited his mother's gorgeous looks and his father's stern gaze and handsome smile. His eyes were of a deep ultramarine colour, so deep that one might be lost within them, his hair was soft and silky, it was of a beautiful violet shade, he would often have to brush aside his long bangs from falling upon his face.

The handsome Prince had quite the reputation, fair maidens would do almost everything to dance with him at balls, and he was often seen with his gentle smile on his face and also surrounded by noble ladies. Everyone was certain that he had a bright future and would make an excellent ruler for the kingdom of Beijita.

What nobody knew, was despite his almost perfect social image, Prince Trunks had insecurities, just like every other person. He was so afraid, that people were only judging him by his looks and social image and that they did not see whom he was deep inside that he had shut himself from any emotions that he might have with other people, including even his parents. He was sick and tired of ladies falling at his feet and complying with his every request, all he wanted was one person that understood him and treated him as an equal, and not as some god sent from the great beyond. So he decided to look for his one perfect companion, in hopes that he would find his soul mate someday.

                                                    _Easier said than done, right?_

                                                                         ~*~

"Sire? Perhaps you should like to eat something before your arrival before the Son Empire."

Trunks raised one hand and replied coldly, "No, take it away." He was in no mood for food, how could he? He was traveling to meet his bride, for the first time ever.

"As you wish, sire." The servant headed out of the exquisite royal suite of the large yacht.

Trunks sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, a habit he had when he was nervous, after all, he was to wed a daughter of King Gohan, of which he had three.

The two princesses who were of his age range were named Zeyi and Seiya. He had not met either of them, and supposedly, he was to choose between them for his future wife.

This was all of his father's plan to align the two countries. And besides, who better to marry than a princess?

Trunks sighed, he had no desire to wed a person that he had never met before, so much for his dream of finding his perfect soul mate. Maybe if he was lucky, one of King Gohan's daughters would turn out to be the perfect match for him, but he highly doubted it. He wished to wed with a woman with an independent soul and a unbreakable spirit, he has never known anyone with such qualities, let alone a snobby princess.

Little did he know how wrong he was, and little did anyone suspect, that his perfect soul mate was, indeed, one of King Gohan's daughters, but not the one whom anyone expected.

As he raised his head, he saw that he was nearing the mainland, nearing the Son Empire, and also nearing his future queen.

                                                                        ~*~

King Gohan stuck out a hand to Prince Trunks, "It's my pleasure to finally meet you, Prince Trunks, I certainly hope that you will have a pleasant stay here, and hopefully, select one of my three daughters to be your bride."

"Two." Queen Videl corrected, "Pan isn't old enough to wed, Prince Trunks will choose between Zeyi and Seiya."

Gohan nodded, "Yes, please have a seat, Prince Trunks, and I shall introduce my daughters to you."

As if upon cue, two ebony-haired beauties stepped out from the hallway, they curtsied before Prince Trunks and Gohan spoke first, "This is my eldest daughter, Zeyi, she is of twenty-two years of age." Gohan geastured towards a blue-eyed beauty.

Zeyi smiled sweetly, "It is my pleasure to meet you, Prince Trunks." Her hair was piled neatly on her head, and her piercing blue eyes seemed to make Trunks nervous.

"Likewise." Trunks smiled back.

Gohan spoke again, "And this is my second eldest daughter, Seiya, she is of nineteen years of age." He geastured to the other princess.

Trunks eyed her carefully, her hair was left down, and she had a gentle smile, her eyes were also blue, but not as piercing as Zeyi's.

As Seiya was about to speak, the large golden door to the main hall burst open, and in ran a small girl, her ebony hair tied in a messy ponytail, her dress torn and ragged, her skin was dirty and muddy, but her dark eyes shone as brightly as the morning sun.

"Dad! Mom! Look what I found!" The little girl called, her hands were cupped, hiding something.

Gohan frowned, "Pan, where have you been? Can't you see we have a guest? And why are you so filthy?"

The small girl started talking really fast, "Well-I-was-with-my-friends-and-we-saw-a-tall-cliff-and-one-of-them-dared-me-to-climb-it-so-I-did-and-look-what-I-found!"

Before either Gohan or Videl could say something, Pan opened her cupped hands, revealing a small baby bald eagle, "So, can I keep him? Can I? Can I? Oh, please, daddy, say yes!"

Videl spoke softly to the small girl, "Panny, you know how your father and I feel about companion animals, this is a palace after all, and I do not think that the little eagle will live."

"Oh, yes it will! I'll take care of it!! Please?? Please??" The small girl pleaded.

Gohan sighed exasperatedly, "Pan, we'll discuss this later, but first, remember your manners and introduce yourself to our guest."

Pan turned and looked at Trunks, as if noticing him for the first time, she giggled, "Your hair is purple!"

Trunks smiled gently and said, "I prefer the term violet, if you don't mind."

Gohan shot his youngest daughter a warning glance, "Pan, what have you learned about your manners?"

Pan sighed and curtsied quickly, "I'm pleased to meet you, my name is Son Pan."

Trunks smiled and stuck out a hand, "Well, I'm pleased to meet you too, my name is Trunks-"

But before he could finish, the small girl cried out, "Trunks! That's a funny name! I'm going to name my eagle that!" But after receiving another stern glance from her father, she added quickly, "That is, if you don't mind, Prince Trunks."

"Of course not, I'm honoured to have a _half-dead_ eagle named after me." Trunks chuckled softly.

"All right! This is awesome! Well, I gotta go and change, bye!" And with that, Pan ran into one of the many rooms to change.

Trunks laughed, "Well, she was certainly different, wasn't she?"

Gohan coughed lightly, "That was my youngest daughter, Pan, she is of nine years old, and a very unique girl."

"Unique indeed ..." Trunks nodded.

"Well, I'll leave you here to meet my daughters, and if you don't mind, I have a meeting to attend, I'm sure my wife will be happy to help you with any problems." Gohan nodded and left.

Videl smiled, "I'm sure there won't be any trouble at all, and I'm also sure that you wouldn't want me interrupting your meeting, so I will excuse myself also."

Trunks nodded and watched as the beautiful, raven-haired, blue-eyed queen left the room. He turned around and put on a fake smile for the two princesses.

                                                                        ~*~

Trunks headed outside to get a breath of fresh air, after nearly two hours of talking, he hasn't decided who he was to wed, Zeyi was more serious and intellectual, she would make a better queen, but Seiya was more amiable and had a sense of humor, she would make a better companion. Trunks sighed and walked over to the lake. As he marveled at the beautiful flowers he did not realize that a certain little girl had jumped at him, making a scary bear face.

"WHOA!" Trunks jumped back, startled.

Pan started laughing and clapped her small hands, "That was hilarious! Hah! You should have seen the look on your face!"

Trunks murmured sarcastically, "Hilarious indeed."

"So? Where are you from?" Pan smiled innocently, as if the previous event had never occurred.

"I am from the kingdom of Beijita, which was named after my great grandfather, he was a truly great ruler and made many wise decisions in his time, one of the reasons why my country is so wealthy and successful is because of his-"

Pan rolled her eyes and yawned, she then stared at Trunks for a moment blankly before running towards him, tapping his arm and yelling, "Tag! You're it!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow at her strange gesture and made no movement, when Pan realized that he was not moving nor chasing her, she sighed and walked back to him, "Hello? I tagged you!! You're suppose to chase me!"

"And the purpose of this exercise would be?" Trunks asked.

Pan rolled her eyes again, "It's for fun!"

Trunks wondered to himself, he had heard that word before, but he had never understood the meaning of it. Pan sighed, "What's wrong with you? I tagged you!!! Don't you know how to play tag?"

When he didn't respond, the little girl sighed again, she walked closer to him and tapped his arm again, "Now I'm suppose to run and you're suppose to chase me!"

"What happens when I catch up to you?" Trunks asked.

"Not that you will, because I'm really fast." Pan bragged, "But you're supposed to tag me also, and then I chase you!"  
"When does this activity cease?"

"Whenever we get tired of playing, I guess." Pan shrugged, "Are you going to play or not?"

Trunks sighed, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, "Fine."

Pan clapped her hands again, "Awesome! Okay! Tag! You're it!" She started running and Trunks rolled his eyes and caught up with her in three seconds, he tapped her shoulder gently.

"There, are you satisfied?"

Pan yelled angrily, "No fair! You cheated!"

"I most certainly did not!" Trunks yelled back.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Not! Not! Not!"

"Too-too-too!" Pan yelled.

Trunks smirked, "You sound either like a locomotive or a parakeet, I can't decide which right now."

Pan yelled in frustration and gave the Prince a push, and Trunks was so surprised at the little girl's strength that he fell into the lake. Pan gasped and then fell onto the ground, bursting with uncontrollable laughter.

Trunks surfaced and shook his head, large wet drops of water flying everywhere, he muttered, "Little brat." And reached over to the laughing girl and threw her in the lake also.

When she didn't surface, Trunks was worried that she didn't know how to swim. And as he swam around the lake, looking for her, she suddenly jumped out of the water and landed on his back, "Got you!!"

Trunks turned around and sighed a breath of relief, "Thank goodness, your father would've never forgiven me if something had happened to-"

Pan sighed, "You sure talk a lot."

"I do not!"

Pan sighed again and grabbed a handful of his violet hair, and shoved his head underwater, causing him to cough and choke, when she let go, she started laughing again.

Trunks glared at the small girl, "That is it ..." He held her by her ankles and dipped her in and out of the water, all the main while mock laughing, "How do you like that, Pan?"

When Pan struggled out of his grasp she yelled, "No fair! You're really mean!"

"Then our feelings are neutral." Trunks replied. "Perhaps if you had treated me with dignity and respect, I could've returned the favour, but you did not attempt nor show any signs of-"

Pan moaned, "Here you go again, blabbering off with your big words. People from your country must be very talkable or something."

"Talkative, you mean." Trunks corrected, "And they most certainly are not."  
"Whatever." Pan rolled her eyes, "Wait! I got a good idea! Water fight!"

Before Trunks could respond, the little girl splashed her arms in and out of the crystal clear water, allowing water to hit the Prince right in the face. Trunks ducked underwater and muttered, for the second time in five minutes, "Little brat."

He decided to fight fire with fire, or in this case, water, so he started splashing her also, except with his powerful arms, water splashed up and down like a small waterfall, and as Pan wailed and complained, he scooped up a handful of water and dumped it all on her head.

"Eeeek! You jerk! That was no way to treat a lady!" Pan yelled.

Trunks smirked, "Well, I don't see a lady around, do you?"

"Why you!" Pan screamed and got out of the water. Trunks wondered what her little mind was up to, and he gulped when he saw her come back with a bottle-like contraption.

She aimed it at his head and held down a little handle, water shot out of the hole at the front of the strange contraption, and Pan aimed the now concentrated water force at Trunks' face, "Hah! How do you like my super-duper-ultra-mega water shooter? It's my own invention!"

As Trunks wiped water off of his forehead he muttered, "Very clever ... brat."

"I heard that!" Pan yelled, "Time to switch my super-duper-ultra-mega water shooter to quadruple mode!" More water came out of her invention and Trunks started coughing because the water was hitting him straight in the face.

"Hey! If you were smart! You'd duck underwater!" Pan yelled while still aiming carefully at his head.

"Nonsense! A real man never backs down from a challenge! Bring it on!" Trunks laughed.

"Well! Let's see if you can handle this!" Pan reached in to her pocket for a small, balloon like ball, she tossed it at him, and it exploded with water as it hit his head.

"THAT'S FREEZING COLD!!" Trunks screamed.

"Of course it is, that was one of my super-duper-mega-deluxe water balloons! Another one of my inventions!" Pan laughed deviously as if she ruled the world.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the garden, "Pan! What are you doing?"

Pan quickly threw her super-duper-ultra-mega water shooter in the lake, "Nothing, Seiya! I'm just talking nicely with the Prince of his great grandpa's land! Right?"

Trunks glared at her while wiping the remains of her water balloon off of his forehead. Pan's elder sister came over to her and scolded her for mistreating the prince. Pan pretended to gag at her sister's tirade and Trunks couldn't help but chuckle, for a little girl, she had quite the attitude.

"Prince Trunks! I'm very sorry for my younger sibling's rude behaviour." Seiya called out and nudged Pan's shoulder.

Pan sighed and muttered quietly, "Alright then, I guess I'm sorry also."

Trunks spat out some water and jumped out of the lake.

"Hey! You're all wet!" Pan laughed.

Trunks rolled his eyes, "Well, after being pushed rudely into a lake and after being attacked by strange inventions of a nine-year-old, one would naturally assume that he would be drenched with freezing cold water."

"You don't make much sense, ya know." Pan frowned.

"Depending on your perspective, you might add, after all, you don't make much sense to me either." Trunks countered, "And for a princess, you sure don't act like one, after all, what kind of princess attacks a prince with water filled weapons?"

Pan swung her ponytail back and smiled proudly, "I do!"

Seiya shot a stern look to her younger sister, "You're soaking wet! Go and change!"

Pan stuck her tongue out at Trunks and ran into the palace.

Seiya sighed softly, "I am so sorry, Prince Trunks, although she can be avid and rowdy sometimes, she has a kind heart and a gentle soul, and I think that's what matters most, please come with me, I will have one of the servants lead you to your room to change your clothing."

Trunks nodded and remembered that he was to stay a week at the Son Kingdom to make his decision . . .

_                                                   Only a week to choose his bride . . ._

                                                                        ~*~

"Now, Prince Trunks, I'm concerned with the lack of time you and my daughters will have to get to know each other." Gohan started, "I would rather you not make a hasty decision in marriage, after all, one week is much too short to make such an important step in your life."

It was after dinner, Gohan and Trunks were discussing his marriage in Gohan's study room, King Vegeta had insisted that Trunks hurry and pick his bride before the wars against Frieza began, but King Gohan hesitated, saying that he'd rather let Trunks get to know his bride longer than a week.

Gohan continued, "If your father is worrying about our country's alliance in battle, he needn't, I have agreed to join forces with him for the war against Frieza. You are welcome in my country to visit my daughters, but I must make sure that she is truly happy before we make any hasty decisions."

Trunks nodded, all the better for him, he didn't want to get married so soon anyways, if it weren't for his father he wouldn't even be looking for a bride. He didn't really care if he wed or not.

As Gohan started to talk again, Pan ran into the room, all the meanwhile screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! I wanna go outside to play but Zeyi won't let me!!"

Gohan sighed, "Pan, what have I told you about your manners? And are you out of your mind? It's dark out!"

"But Timmy said he found a really neat rock today!" Pan whined, "And I wanna go see!"

Gohan narrowed his eyes, "Timmy? He's one of those village boys, isn't he? Oh Pan, why can't you associate with people more like you, there are other royals that you could spend your time with."

Pan moaned, "But daddy, they're all stuck-up and snobby, none of them like me, all they wanna do is sip tea and recite poetry, that's boring!"

Trunks smiled at the young girl's interpretation of royals, but Gohan didn't seem to find the remark the least bit amusing, "Pan, this is for the last time, you may not associate with peasants, look how your behaviour is, you were born as a princess, you will also follow all the rules of a princess."

"But, daddy . . ." Pan sniffed.

"No buts, you know better than that. Starting tomorrow, I do not want you to go out of the palace grounds."

Pan looked up nervously, "So . . . can I still go out tonight?"

"NO!!"

                                                                        ~*~

Trunks sighed and walked down the hallway towards the room in which he would be staying in for the next week. It has been a long day, and there would be more long days to come, in fact, perhaps every day for the rest of his life would be long, one never know. Maybe he would die tomorrow, or maybe he'd-

"Hiya!" A voice chirped.

Trunks smiled at Pan, "Hello, isn't it past your curfew now?"

Pan scrunched up her nose, "Yes, but I wanted to see Trunks."

Trunks raised an eyebrow and Pan added, "The eagle."

"Aaahhhh, how is it?" Trunks asked.

"Come and see!" Pan smiled and walked back into her room, Trunks had always learned that it was rude to enter a lady's room, but since Pan wasn't a lady, it shouldn't really matter.

Her room was . . . certainly different, instead of the usual pink and white wallpaper that little girls' rooms usually contained, the walls were blue, the carpet was green, and there was a huge rainbow painted on the ceiling, as Trunks glanced around, he did not see any signs of a dollhouse, or any dresses, or any other toys that a girl might have for that matter.

There was a lot of things like leaves, flowers, and seashells, scattered all over the room, and one corner of the room looked like a building area, there was large bottles full of strange substances, and inventions of all sorts.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Trunks stopped staring at the strange supplies and replied, "Oh, of course."

He followed her into another room, and she held the tiny box that contained the baby eagle, "See? I made a little feeder for it. Since it can't eat on it's own."

Trunks smiled as Pan started to feed the little eagle through a sort of tube-like thing, for a girl, she sure was smart.

"Do you wanna try?" She suddenly asked.

"Sure." Trunks didn't want to be rude, so he took the tube thingy from Pan and, following her example, fed the baby eagle some kind of strange substance, that no doubt, Pan had made. The room was silent, as Pan watched him feed the eagle, and Trunks felt a sudden feeling of security, and serenity.

Well, that is, until Pan interrupted, "Wanna try one of my drinks?"

"Excuse me?" Trunks asked.

Pan sighed and ran out of the room, returning quickly with a large bottle filled with a rich, brown substance, "See? I made it! Here! Try it!"

She got a glass off of a nearby shelf, and poured the drink into it, "I haven't tried it yet, but maybe you could be my test subject?"

Trunks didn't know what to say, he didn't want to be poisoned, but it was impolite to ignore a little girl's offer, "Well, I-I am-"

"Unless you're scared."

"Of course not," Trunks smirked, "Hand it over."

Pan passed him a glass and watched him sniff the drink with impatience, "Are you going to try it or not?"

Trunks sighed, and thought to himself, no pain, no gain, right? So he took a deep breath, and poured the whole glassful in his mouth, as soon as the dark liquid reached his tongue, he could feel a burning sensation. It was almost delicious! Somehow, it tasted like chocolate, yet had a spicy taste to it. He was almost sad to see that he had gulped the stuff so quick, he would've liked to last longer.

"So? How is it?" Pan asked, "What's it like?"

"It's very good, what's it made of?" Trunks asked.

Pan beamed, "Really? It's good? Wow! None of my parents or my sisters wanted to try the drink! Wait until I tell them! Oh, it's made of hot chocolate, and coffee, and a bit of garlic powder."

Trunks nodded, and Pan quickly ran out of the room, to return with an armful of different drinks, "Wow! You must try all of my drinks! I finally have a test subject!"

Trunks didn't know if he wanted to try all those 'drinks' that Pan had made, some of them didn't look quite as tasty as the first one.

"Okay, here's what you do." Pan got out a piece of paper and a pen, "You drink some, and tell me what you think it lacks, and how it tastes."  
"Hey, why don't you try your own drinks?" Trunks asked, "Then you can write down what you think."  
Pan rolled her eyes, "It doesn't work that way, and I'm not stupid. I don't wanna try all of these drinks. Not all are as good as the first one."

Trunks gulped and wondered why he was going through with all this.

Pan smiled and handed him a large green bottle, Trunks took a deep breath, and drank, the drink had a milky and fruity taste to it, and was very, very cold.

"That drink is made of various fruits, and milk, what do you think?"

"It's very good, but maybe you could put a bit less milk and more fruit."

"Oh! Good idea!" Pan jotted down notes furiously on her piece of paper.

So that's how the night passed, Pan made Trunks test all of her inventions, and he gave her his honest opinions about each of them.

They were almost all good, there were only the occasional few that wasn't as appetizing and delicious . . .

                                                                        ~*~

The early morning breeze made the trees sway gently, and Trunks gazed down into the lake at his own reflection, smoothing his bangs.

"Hey! Narcissus! What's up?" Pan called, cheerfully as she hopped into the garden.

"What did you just call me?" Trunks asked, still paying attention to his hair.

"Wow." Pan gazed at his reflection, "I never realized that someone could be this ugly!"

Trunks scowled at her, "That wasn't nice, and why did you call me Narcissus?"

"Well, he was the guy who fell in love with his own face, you kinda seem like the type." Pan said.

Trunks raised an eyebrow, "You're very peculiar, and don't you think about pushing me into the lake again!"

Pan giggled slightly, "I wasn't gonna, so? Are you going to marry one of my sisters?"

Trunks smiled, "I don't know, Pan, nothing's certain in life, there are ups and there are downs, but when there aren't are certainties, we all have to wait to read the next page of the great book of life. The pages are magical, we can't flip to the next one without reading the first one thoroughly."

Pan yawned and stretched, "I guess that means no, aw shucks, I was looking forward to having a brother."

"That's right, isn't it?" Trunks laughed, "If I marry one of your sisters, then I will be your brother!"

"Uh-huh, and then you can have water fights with me, and test my inventions all the time!" Pan yelled happily.

"Sure ... that sounds excellent." Trunks sighed, wondering what chaos his future-little sister might bring.

"Yup!" Pan must've been tired of talking, because she stood up and yelled, "Tag! You're it!"

Trunks stood up and stretched his muscular arms, "Alright, then, this time I'll prove that I wasn't cheating!"

So that's how the rest of the week passed, and before he knew it, it was time for him to leave. He had settled for Seiya over Zeyi, since he wanted a companion that would at least entertain him a little.

Gohan approved ... reluctantly, since all fathers value their daughters very much, and he was to return every year to visit them, and hopefully, get married within three years.

On the day of his departure, Pan presented him with a shiny rock, he smiled at her gesture and she smiled back.

"Thank you, Pan."

"Uh-huh, I didn't want it anyways."

Trunks knew it was her special way of saying you're welcome, since he had nothing to give in return, he unclasped a chain that he had around his wrist and handed it to her, she was certainly happy, since she waved frantically and called to the leaving ship, "Bye-bye, brother! Hurry back!"

But he did not hurry back, a few months after his return to the kingdom of Beijita, the wars against Frieza began, and six years went by as quick as a flash, they were long and hard, since the rebellions were quite numerous, but with the Son Empire's assistance in battle, they finally conquered the rebels and went back to their peaceful lives.

During the six years, prince Trunks had suffered long and difficult times, including being close to death. Yet he had grown, his muscles shown even more now, and his spirit was unbreakable. During the six years, he had also inherited his father's pride , and was determined to keep his country wealthy and prosperous.

Although he could not remember the face of his bride-to-be anymore, he was sure that she had grown much more beautiful and caring. Things might have changed, but probably for the better.

So as he stood there, staring out onto The Silver Sea on his yacht, he realized that Pan must've grown also.

She was sixteen now, a young woman. He chuckled to himself, he still had that rock that she gave him, in fact, he sort of missed her. He wondered how much she'd changed.

_                                      Oh, if only he knew, she had changed, and it was to his liking._

So when his father had announced that there was to be no further delay for the wedding, Trunks had set off, once again, to the Son Kingdom, he was to stay there, until he was married. Trunks made a mental note to himself to just get married and get the whole thing over with, he didn't expect to stay at the Son Kingdom for more than a month, after all, he had a country to assist to.

What he didn't know, was that the one thing that would hold him back, was his future-bride's sister. Son Pan.

His arrival in the Son Kingdom had certainly lifted his father's burdens, there was soon to be a heir. He would have a son, and a wife.

But was everything that simple? Like he had once said, life was unpredictable. And it certainly was, for he did not predict the sight he was to see in the Son Palace.

                                                                         **_End of Prologue_**

**            So? How was that? I think this story has POTENTIAL!!! I have been planning it for a while now, I was going to release it when Apple Tree was completed, but from the looks of it, it won't be for a while, now.**

**            Please, reviews and comments of any sort would be greatly appreciated.**

_                                                                         -Juunanagou4ever_


	2. Of Princes and Princesses

                                                                         The Silver Sea 

**             I told myself over and over again that I will not update the Silver Sea again until I have fully completed the Apple Tree, but since I am nowhere near that goal, and since I have this chapter done, and also since so many people asked me to post the next chapter quicker, I have posted this chapter.**

**             Mind you, although this is a companion of the Apple Tree, it is NOT a sequel, therefore, it is also a much different alternate universe ficcy. And it also isn't in that peculiar timeline where both television sets and wagons exist.**

**             Oh, by the way, just for the record, I'm eating a pickle at this very moment.**

**                                                                        _Chapter 1:_ _Of Princes and Princesses _**

"No! Dad! I don't want to!"

"It is not a matter of wanting, if you marry Prince Theseus, our countries will be aligned, and since Zeyi is already married to Prince Vinge, and Seiya is engaged to Prince Trunks, you're the only one of my daughters left, Pan, think of this as for our people." Gohan pleaded.

"Dad! I already said many times, why won't you listen? I've never met the guy, and you want me to marry him? Don't you want the best for your daughter? After all, I'm only 16, isn't that too young to marry?"

Gohan shot his daughter a stern look, "Pan, you're being selfish."

"Me? What about you? Have you ever considered your own daughter's opinion before you make major decisions for her life? Don't you think I get a say in who I want to marry?!"

Gohan sighed, "Listen, Pan, why must you always be so harsh? Can't you just give Prince Theseus a chance? He is very interested in meeting you."

"He's almost 26! He'll be ten years older than me! I don't like older men!"

Videl cleared her throat, "Prince Trunks, I believe you have met my youngest daughter?"

Gohan and Pan both turned around, not aware of the fact that Videl and Trunks had been standing in the room the whole time.

"Oh, hello, Prince Trunks, you have arrived early, haven't you?" Gohan shot Pan a look that said, _this isn't over yet, young lady._

"Yes, the sky is acting quite moody, we wanted to arrive before a storm hits." Trunks nodded.

Pan grinned, "Hiya, big bro!"

Gohan shot Pan a look and Pan choked out, "It's a pleasure seeing you again, Prince Trunks."

Trunks nodded and as if for the first time, eyed Pan up and down. She was not wearing what a princess should wear, nor would want to wear, in fact, she was dressed up more as a prince than a princess, heavy silver boots, a blue velvet cloak, and a fancy tunic with gold lining. Her hair wasn't like a princess' either, it was not curled, was not in a bun, and was not in braids, it was tied in a high ponytail, swishing down her back.

But even with her strange outfit, it was evident that she was not unattractive, for her eyes shone brightly and she had a cheerful smile on her lips. Even when she spoke, her voice was bright and sunny, "Would you like to come and see Trunks? The eagle? Mom and dad won't let him in the entrance hall, but he flies around outside all the time."

"Now, Pan." Gohan started, "I think it would be wise to let Seiya see Prince Trunks first, after all, I'm pretty sure that Prince Trunks would not like to be pushed into the lake again."

Pan growled, "I never get to have any fun!" She turned around and stomped out of the room.

Trunks raised his eyebrows and Gohan sighed, "I apologize for my daughter's rude behaviour, I do not believe that she was fit for the palace life. But, as long as she has a single drop of royal blood flowing within her body, she is a noble and must obey the rules of the other royals."

Trunks nodded in agreement with Gohan, "Perhaps she would be more content after she marries, she could be just lonely."

Gohan sighed again, except this time, it was a sigh of emptiness, "She does not want to marry, only to work on those inventions of hers. But a princess needs a husband, and she needs a prince. But never mind that, I shall inform Seiya that you have arrived. Please have a seat while you are waiting, Prince Trunks."

"Thank you." Trunks sat down in a nearby chair and folded his muscular arms across his chest, during the past six years, he had developed a strange sense of independence, if he yearned for a perfect companion back when he was younger, he did not really care now whether he stayed single his whole life or not.

Funny, it all seemed so strange to be back in civilization again, he had seen some horrible sights during the battle with Frieza, and he had also become impatient. Women were always so quiet, never taking thought in their own opinions, and obeying their husband's every command. It was pathetic, actually, he pitied them. And they served for no more than a slave that had the honour of serving as the next heir's mother.

Trunks wondered if his father was like him when he was younger, everyone else says aside for their looks, him and his father were almost like one being. Except his father had become soft with the influence of his mother for the past few years.

He would not make the same mistake. A woman had no part in his life, they often had a pretty face, that was true. But a pretty face alone did not let them survive in this world.

And to Trunks, survival meant everything.

And his wife, would merely be like a statue, a prize trophy, to show off to all the other princes and such.

"Hello, Prince Trunks, how have you been?"   
Trunks jerked back to reality and stared blankly at the beauty standing before him, this was not the same Seiya that he had known. 

Her silky ebony hair was curled ever so elegantly, piled neatly on her head, the occasional strand or two falling down over her face. Her large eyes were like glittering sapphires. Her rosy cheeks and small, yet full lips gave her gorgeous face a touch of purity. Her pink and white dress hanged loosely around her petite figure. Gold and silver jewelry adorned her hands and long, pale neck. A pair of red slippers was worn on her small, elegant feet. And her long, slender legs were paler than the moonlight.

Ahhh, she would make an excellent trophy. Trunks thought, almost worthy of me.

"I hope that the battle with Frieza wasn't too harsh?" She spoke softly, her voice had a hint of a nightingale's song.

"Oh, it wasn't too bad." Trunks replied, but he laughed roughly in his own head, harsh? She wouldn't know harsh in her whole entire life! Just by looking at her could determine that she has to be handled with care, if she trips over, she might shatter and break into a million pieces.

But then again, that's what wives were like, weren't they? They were like living porcelain figurines.

                                                                         ~*~

After a whole hour of talking with Seiya, Trunks had raised his respect for her just a tad more. She was highly intellectual, but had one problem, when he spoke, and when they both know that he was wrong, she did nothing to correct him. Just merely smile in her beautiful, yet baffling way.

Trunks ran his hand through his hair, and walked slowly into the garden, he wanted to return to his country as soon as possible. But by the looks of it, Prince Gohan had no intentions of letting him go any time soon.

Probably worried that he would treat his daughter with neglect. Trunks laughed harshly, women were meant to be ignored, they were meant to cry with joy at just the sight of their husbands.

But she was a princess, and had her dignity, not that he would treat her with any, that is, he had not met anyone even close to being worthy of his equal yet. And he was losing hope that such a person did not exist.

"Is war fun?"

Trunks spun around, one hand outstretched, right to strike, when he saw it was only Pan, he withdrew his hand. He had to be on heavy guard during the wars with Frieza, who knew which enemy lurked around the corner.

Pan smiled at him, "I said, is war fun?"

Trunks almost choked, sure, women were ignorant, but he didn't think anyone was this ignorant, "Of course not, people die in wars."

"Neat! Did you kill anyone?" Pan asked excitedly.

Trunks almost chocked again, she wanted to know if he killed someone? She thought it was neat? "Yes, of course, thousands of them, in war, it's all a game of survival, you really don't think twice when you make the final blow."

Pan nodded, "I know."

Trunks really did choke, who did she think she was? Trying to make herself superior in his presence, how would a woman know what war was like? And she wasn't even a woman! Merely a girl, a child, a being even more useless than women.

Pan beamed, "It's fascinating, isn't it? You get to be in charge of all those troops! How is it? Having all that power to yourself?"

Actually, for Trunks, too much power went to his head, and now everything and everyone seems inferior to him, but he himself did not know this fact and instead replied, "It's quite exasperating actually, they are like puppies, all begging to be fed, or petted with. But you have to be careful also, not to rub them the wrong way, or else a rebellion might be started."

"Mm-hmm," Pan glanced up at the sky, "You must be pretty strong then, hey?"

"Of course." Trunks smiled, "If I must say so myself, I do consider myself one of the most powerful beings in the universe."

Pan was still staring at the sky, "But can you fly?"

"Fly?" Trunks laughed, "Yes, it is a treasured technique, few can handle in intensity of it, even fewer can master it. But I happen to be one of the few who can."

Pan smiled, almost to herself, "But I highly doubt that you can fly like that." She pointed to a speck in the sky, circling around a few clouds was a mighty predator and noble fighter.

"You think an eagle can challenge me?"

Pan shrugged, "Prove me wrong, then."

Trunks merely laughed, "Fine then, maybe I'll teach you to think before you speak."

And with that, he took off into the air, as easily as if he was born with the unique talent, and easily out flew Trunks, the eagle, outlining the soft clouds with amazing grace, until, finally, he landed.

Pan clapped, "I must admit, that was quite impressive."

Trunks smirked, "Of course, what else is expected of me? So now, you must admit that you were wrong."  
"No, I wasn't." Pan countered, "What makes you believe that I was wrong?"

"I easily out flew the bird, therefore, I accomplished your challenge, and also, you were wrong." Trunks said impatiently.

"But I didn't mention a word about speed at all." Pan argued, "The way you flew was like you were trying to race against someone, and you sped around without feeling the joy of flying at all, yet, if you examine Trunks, the eagle, he flies without a care in the world, just simply enjoying, enjoying the cool breeze, enjoying the bright sunshine, and simply, enjoying being alive."

Trunks snorted, "Mere enjoyment does not equal success, and besides, what would you know about flying anyways? You are only a girl"  
Pan narrowed her eyes, "What's wrong with girls?"

Trunks waved his hand, "That's too complicated a matter to be discussing at the moment, besides, I wouldn't want to give you my entire opinion on girls, you might be offended, which is what females are often. And besides, I'm sure that my little sister-to-be would enjoying doing something else with her older brother-to-be instead of just talking all day."

Pan beamed, "Sure! What do you want to do then?"

"I thought that we could have a civilized session of-"

"I've got a great idea! I could take you to meet all my friends!" Pan yelled excitedly, "I'm sure that they would adore meeting a real live prince!"

Trunks muttered, "Aside from being very rudely interrupted, I do not think that it would be a good idea for me to meet these so called 'friends' of yours, since I am here to visit your sister."

"Aw, she wouldn't care." Pan pleaded, "Please? It'd be really neat if they met you! After all, you are my older brother, aren't you? And my father wouldn't know at all!"

Trunks sighed, "As much as I am flattered by having you call me an older brother, I couldn't just disappear from your father without announcing, and even if I did, I highly doubt that he would approve of your leaving without noticing him."

"But we'll be back real soon!" Pan whined, "Oh please? Please? Pretty please?"

"Oh all right then, if it would stop your whining, but I cannot leave for that long." Trunks reluctantly agreed.

"Great!" A wide grin appeared on Pan's face, "Wait 'till you meet my friends! You'll love them!"

"Absolutely, a bunch of crazed, screaming teenagers, what fun." Trunks muttered.

Pan slowly rose into the air, "You coming?"

"Y-you can fly?" Asked a surprised Trunks.

"Of course." Pan nodded, "Now come on before you waste more time!"

"Right." Trunks shook his head, maybe it was in her genes, or maybe it was a freak accident, but she was a girl, and she could fly. She didn't want to marry, and thought an eagle was faster than him. Will wonders ever cease?

                                                                         ~*~

"Where are we going?" Trunks asked, brushing his hair out of his face.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Pan sighed, "Boys are so lucky, I wanted to cut my hair, but my dad wouldn't let me, he said it wasn't 'lady like'."

"How short did you want it?" 

"A bit longer than yours, down to my chin."

Trunks frowned, "What's wrong with your hair the way it is now?"

"It gets in my face when I train, even in a ponytail. When I sweat, it sticks to the back of my neck, and it's really gross." Pan explained.

"You train?"

"Sure, so did both of my sisters, and my mother also. But they all stopped once they got engaged. Seiya stopped the day that my dad settled your marriage to her." Pan shrugged.

"Do you still train?" Trunks asked, slightly amazed at the teen.

"Uh-huh, of course. And that's one of the reasons I don't want to get married, I'd have to give up a lot of stuff, I wouldn't be able to see my friends, wouldn't be able to invent, and I definitely wouldn't be able to train." Pan laughed coldly.

"Why not?"

"Oh, come on, what kind of husband want his wife to socialize? To be stronger than him? To be smarter than him? Men are all sexists, and that's a fact. Even my own dad thinks that I'm not capable of many things." 

Trunks guessed that her comment was directed at him, he couldn't blame her, she was right. He wouldn't want Seiya to be stronger nor smarter than him. And what kind of husband would want his wife to run around all day, meeting with her so-called friends. "But, are you ever going to marry?"

"I don't know." Pan replied, "If I don't find the right person, I won't."

"The right person?"

"Yup, a easy-going guy that has a sense of humor, and who respects me as an equal. A guy that has a kind heart, and is very, very, romantic." Pan ticked the items off of her fingers.

"You sure have this all planned out, don't you?" Trunks laughed, "And what do you mean by romantic?"

"Well . . . I don't really know how to describe it, but he would write me poems and sing me songs, holding my hand, and giving me hugs." Pan sighed dreamily and giggled, "You probably think that I'm pathetic, but really, that's what I want. How 'bout you? What kind of wife did you want?"

"It's kind of late now." Trunks sighed, "Whatever kind of person your sister is, then that's what my future wife is going to be like."  

Pan smiled, "My sis is great, you won't need to worry! Anyways, we're going to land now."

As soon as those words sprang to her mouth, she dropped to the ground like a rock, flipping once and landed gracefully on both feet.

The violet-haired prince followed suit, just not with the flips and such, he didn't want his hair to be tossed around by the wind, but then again, he had been flying for the past ten minutes, so even without a mirror, he had a vague guess that his usually smooth and silky hair, was probably in a tangled mess now.

He cursed himself for forgetting about his beloved hair, if he knew that they were going to be flying, maybe he could've worn a helmet? Nah, he didn't appreciate the ugly art of helmet hair, either. But surely, he could've brought a brush along, or maybe a comb, or even possibly-

"Trunks!!" Pan screeched, "Come on, you slowpoke!"

As Trunks raised a hand to pat his hair, in hopes of calming it down, he muttered, "Of course, just because you don't care about your hair at all means that I also, can be irresponsible about my appearance."

Unfortunately, his sarcasm was wasted on the hyper teenager, who was already racing towards a small brick house, which was, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere.

"And they say that young ladies are proper." Trunks frowned as Pan pounded on the door, meanwhile, making a lot of strange noises.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Came a muffled voice from behind the wooden door.

The door swung open, and a girl with beautiful curly blonde hair screeched, "Pan! I haven't seen you for a long time! What have you been up to lately?"

Pan smiled, "Well, I've been quite busy lately, but guess what? Remember my big brother that I told you about? Well, he's here!"

"Here? As in here?" The girl screamed.

"Yep." Pan beamed proudly and swished her ponytail in the direction of where Trunks was standing, "Look it! He's right there!"

The blonde girl shot one look at Trunks and quickly ran back into the house, all the main while, screaming, "Caron! Caron! Pan's here!"

Pan raised a hand and motioned for Trunks to come to where she was standing, as he hesitantly did, she jumped up and down excitedly, while tugging on his arm, "See? That was my very best friend, Emmie. I've told her sooo much about you!"

"Oh, is that right?" 

"Yah! She has an older brother named Caron, he and his best friend, Timmy, have been my friends for a very long time."

"Are they royals?"

"Of course not." Pan stuck out her tongue, "They actually know how to live, instead of being stuck in a castle all day."

Trunks nodded flatly, he really did not want to have anything to do with third-class peasants, what was the meaning of her, bringing him to meet all of them? When he thought about her friends, he thought that she meant other royals or relatives, not a horde of villagers. Oh well, he might just have to put up with this for a while longer yet. After all, she was supposed to his future-bride's younger sister.

The blonde girl by the name of Emmie came racing outside, and leapt on Pan, giving her a huge hug, "Pan! We've all missed you so much! The rock wasn't balanced without you!"

Pan laughed, "Well, then, tell Caron to gain a few pounds."

"Can't." Emmie stuck out her tongue, "He's very proud of his figure, and is convinced that he has more muscles than anyone in the world."

She then switched her baby blue eyes to Trunks and laughed slightly, "Well, I guess I can prove him wrong now, is he your brother?" Emmie geastured to Trunks.

As she spoke, another figure came running out the door, this time, it was a tall, six-foot boy by the name of Caron, "Pan! What are you doing here?"

"Can't I visit my very best friend once in a while?" Pan mock laughed.

"Awww, jeez, I'm so touched." Caron grinned, flashing his pearly white teeth.

"Not you!" Pan gave Caron a shove, "I was talking about Emmie!"

Caron sighed, "Oh well, it was worth a try." He glanced at Trunks for the fraction of a second, "Is he your brother?"

Pan nodded proudly, "The one and only."

Trunks wondered how Pan could've told her 'friends' so much about him when she'd only known him for a week.

Emmie laughed, "Look, Caron, he has way more muscles than you, and you were in the army fighting against Frieza!"

This perked Trunks' interest, he wanted to ask who was his commanding officer, but he had no intention of speaking with a low class citizen. 

It was Pan who piped up, "Trunks was fighting against Frieza also, and he killed him too! Right, bro?"

"Right." Muttered Trunks.

Emmie beamed, "How long will you stay, Pan? Maybe you can stay over tonight?"

Pan folded her arms, "Wish I could, but Trunks is here to visit my sister, so, we probably have to leave soon."

Caron glanced down at Trunks, who was a fair bit shorter than him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Pan frowned, "We probably have to go now before my dad hyperventilate, but we'll be back, really, I just wanted to prove that I wasn't lying about my brother."

Emmie grinned, "Okay, so maybe I didn't believe you for a while. But I eventually ended up and the end, I still don't understand why you want a brother so much, I would've gladly given mine to you."

Caron protested, "Hey! That was harsh, Emmie, but Pan would make a better sister, aside from the fact that she lives in a palace."

"Poor you." Emmie nodded at Pan, "I'd absolutely hate it if I was trapped in a place like that, I don't understand how you survive, Pan."

"Well, I do. But we really should go now, I'll probably be back sometimes this week, kay?" Pan leapt in the air and hovered, motioning for Trunks to do the same.

Emmie waved, "Sure, bye Pan! Don't forget to light three this time!"

Trunks wondered why these kids didn't want to live in a palace, it suited him just fine, what was with this generation? And light three? What did that mean?

As the two royals flew further and further away, Emmie smiled at her brother, "Wow, guess Pan was right, her brother looks so cool."

Caron smiled a mysterious smile, "He probably is, but I know for a fact that he didn't kill Frieza."

                                                                        ~*~

"And the point of that was?" Asked Trunks.

Pan looked behind her and smiled at Trunks, "Well, my friends didn't believe that I really had a brother, but see, you really are my big bro, aren't ya?"

"Not yet." Said Trunks with a hint of superiority in his voice, "Once your sister and I marry, I will officially be your older brother."

"Well, why don't you hurry up and get married then?" Asked Pan, anxious to finally have a brother.

            "It's not that easy." Frowned Trunks, "You father, for one, is insisting my not rushing the wedding process."

"My father ruins everything, doesn't he?" Moaned Pan.

"You couldn't possibly mean everything, it is merely an exaggeration of words." Corrected Trunks.

"Whatever, you know what you should do? You should elope! That would be so incredibly romantic!" Said Pan excitedly.

"Elope?" Trunks laughed, "Would you like to see your only brother slaughtered by his own father?"

Pan laughed, "Oh, now who's exaggerating, like your father will ever kill you for eloping with my sister." 

Trunks nodded and Pan shut up, "You're not kidding?"

"Would I lie?"

Pan shrugged, "How should I know, I'm not you."

"Exactly."

Pan shook her head, "You know what? You're really confusing? Are all brothers like that? Or are you just mentally challenged? What, with your perfect grammar and your complete set of manners, you're almost a freak!"

"Thank you." Nodded Trunks.

"That wasn't a compliment, you idiot!" Pan yelled.

Trunks blinked a few times, "How strange, I believe that you are the first female to describe me as mentally challenged, a freak, and an idiot."

Pan smirked at him, the wind rushing behind them, "Well, then, there must be a first for everything, eh, prince? Why, what do other 'females' describe you as? Weirdo? Mutant? Alien?"

"Sarcasm does not become you, my dear." Trunks mocked simpering, "You cannot even imagine some of the things I've been referred to as."

"Oh really?" Pan gasped sarcastically, "You have perked up my interest, explain."

Trunks sighed, "Must I?"

"You must, I insist." Pan mimicked his voice.

"Alright then, here they are, I can only list a few of them, but you know, it's not really necessary for you to-"

"Shut up and start already." Snapped Pan.

"As you wish. Over the years, I've actually received a fairly large amount of compliments, such as admirable, aristocratic, athletic, august, becoming, comely, dapper, fine, impressive, majestic, noble, personable, robust, sharp, smart, smooth, spruce, stately, strong stylish, suave, virile, fitting, adroit, canny, clever, perspicacious, sagacious, savvy, acute, adept, nervy, nimble, arousing, cuddly." He stopped and frowned and tried to recall who had called him that, for had they not been murdered yet, they would certainly die a gruesome death, "Inviting, provoking, libidinous, racy, risqué, seductive, sensual, sensuous, titillating, flourishing, luxurious, extravagant, sybaritic, ripe-"

"Okay, you can stop now." Pan made a face.

"Why? I was getting to the opulent part?" Trunks asked, puzzledly.

"No, that is alright, I'm wondering what sort of person would call you all that? Your mother, perhaps?" Pan pondered.

Trunks almost chocked, "I beg your pardon?"

Pan shook her head, "Never mind, it's just . . . weird, I mean, you're not that good-looking at all, so why would people call you that?"

Trunks almost chocked again, he? Was not good-looking? Was this girl mad? He had known no female who had not fallen for his handsomeness.

"Anyhow,  I figure you need a nickname." Pan  pointed out, "But we're at the castle now, so we better land."

"Where will we descend?" Asked Trunks.

"Near the roof." Pointed Pan, "See? That open window leads to my bedroom, we can sneak in from there, and I certainly hope that my father won't be there, 'cause then I'll get in a ton of trouble for bringing you out."

They both landed on the gleaming roof of the Son Palace, and as Pan climbed in the window, Trunks hesitated, there was something about climbing in a lady's window that disturbed him, it was like he was entering taboo territory. But then he realized that technically, Pan really wasn't a lady yet. So he slowly entered the large bay window.

Pan was waiting for him by the door, "Boy, are all princes this slow? Or is it because you're old?"

Trunks ignored her comment, he did not like to consider himself as old. Even though he was already thirty. Instead, he glanced around the large room, the walls were painted black, gone was the rainbow on the ceiling, gone was the soft green grass-like carpet, instead, almost everything was black, black carpet with golden trim, black bed sheets with a silver trim, black walls with gold and silver sparkles and a clear glass ceiling, revealing the stars overhead.

"Do you like the ceiling?" Asked Pan, "I got it done last summer."

"It's beautiful." Answered Trunks, truthfully.

Pan blushed, "Well, it's actually not that nice, especially on rainy days. I'll probably get it changed with thicker glass, maybe get the ceiling curved." But as she turned away, the pleasure on her face was evident. The once small invention corner had expanded to half of the room's size, there were tools and bottles here and there, various papers scattered around the large black desk.

 Pan pushed Trunks outside of her room, "You can gape at my inventions all you want, but first, I have to change. Wait in the hallway, kay?"

Before he could answer, the door was slammed in his face, he ran a hand through his hair, "She's very peculiar, quite a wayward girl indeed."  
"I heard that!"

Trunks wondered why he was waiting for her, then he remembered, he didn't know his way around the castle, and he didn't want to get lost. So he leaned against the wall and waited.

Minutes later, Pan's door swung open, "Okay, let's go."

Trunks raised an eyebrow at her outfit, "You like to be eccentric, don't you?"

Pan looked at her attire also, "What do you mean?"

Trunks almost laughed, did she think all princesses dressed like her? A very plain black satin dress, with a silvery stole wrapped around her neck, a magenta cape that reached the marble floor, and knee length nicely polished golden boots.

Forget about being eccentric, she didn't look like any girl in the country. If the strange outfit was not enough, her hair had been switched from a high ponytail to two buns, at each side of her head, with loose strands flowing about her neck.. A set of bracelets, necklaces, and rings, all with the same tri-pointed star engraved on them adorned her wrists, hands and neck.

"Why-" Trunks started.

"Because the gathering occurs tonight."

"Gathering?" Trunks repeated.

"Yes, and you will help me tonight, since I screwed up last time and got laughed at." Pan kicked the wall angrily, "But if you help me, I won't mess up, and if I do, it'll be blamed on you."

Trunks wondered what was going on in the girl's mind and found that no answers came to him, he shuddered at the thought of the strange girl being his sister for the rest of his life, but then again, she was more interesting then most of the girls he knew, she was obviously different. But whether that was a good or bad thing, he had yet to decide. For now, he had to ponder how to get out

of 'the gathering'.

What could be worse than his fiancée having a psycho little teenaged sister? And thinking of his fiancée, he wondered where she was.

"You'll have dinner first, alright?" It wasn't really a question, more like a statement from Pan, "And then you will meet me in my balcony at exactly one hour to midnight."

"So this is your plan." Laughed Trunks, "Trying to lure me onto your balcony so you can seduce me?"

Pan's glare towards him was like piercing daggers, drenched with vinegar to make the wounds worse, and her voice dripped with dangerous venom, "You're just lucky that you're my big brother, or else I would squash you flat like a bug!"

She turned around and marched down the hallway, and Trunks having realized that he still didn't know the way around the castle, followed her.   
She was also the first person that had threatened to squash him like a bug.

What a pleasant girl.

Trunks asked calmly, "Why the sudden perspective change?"

A cackle like laugh erupted from Pan's throat, "Well, you'll see tonight, won't you?"

"Are you a vampyre in disguise? Trying to poison me in order to consume my regal blood?"

Pan snickered, "Nah, wouldn't do that, and besides, blood tastes horrible. Especially if you drink a whole cupful in one gulp."

Trunks decided that he didn't want to ponder about how she knew. She truly was a strange one. 

"So, do you have any siblings?" Asked Pan innocently.

Trunks nodded slightly, "Yes, I do have a sibling, Princess Bra, of whom is thirteen years younger than I, and of whom is your elder by one year."

"So . . ." Pan did some mental math quickly, "You're fourteen years older than me?"

"That's correct." Nodded Trunks.

"Wow, you're even older than I thought you were, you're almost my father's age!" Exclaimed Pan.

"Your father's thirty?" Asked Trunks.

"Well, no, but he's around his mid-forties, but still, that's pretty close."

"One would hardly think so." Mutter Trunks, annoyed that Pan had compared him to her own father.

Pan descended the spiral staircase quickly, eager to get to wherever she was going, to follow her sprightly steps, Trunks gaited closer to her, not wanting to find himself lost in the huge castle. Without any warning, Pan turned around and opened her mouth to say something but with Trunks so close behind her, he stumbled into her, causing both of them to tumble to the bottom of the stairs.

"Next time when you decide to suddenly stop while in the process of descending stairs, perhaps a warning to the unfortunate few who are behind you would be kind." Snapped Trunks, dusting dust off of his clothes.

"You bumped into me, so it's not my fault." Pan stood up, re-wrapping her tangled stole around her neck.

"Where are we?" Asked Trunks, taking notice of his surroundings.

Pan rolled her eyes, "I was just about to tell you, but you _had_ to crash into me! And you're suppose to be a prince!"

"And you're a princess." Trunks pointed out, "It wasn't very ladylike of you to do something without notice."

"Oh, what did you suppose I do?" Pan rolled her eyes, "Excuse me, prince, but I'm going to breathe, is that alright with you? Or are you going to make a big deal out of it?"

"Like I said, sarcasm does not become you." Noted Trunks, "And since you did not answer my question, I shall ask it again, where are we?"

"We are in, or rather, heading into the oubliette." Pan opened a hidden latch door on the ground.

"And why, are we going there?" Trunks asked, not wanting to enter a dungeon, for the devious princess might trap him inside.

"Because the only entrance to the secret garden is through there."

"The secret garden?" Asked Trunks.

Pan nodded, "Sure, that's where we go to attend 'the gathering'"

"I recall you mentioning your balcony." 

"Well, I've changed my mind, and besides, I wouldn't want my dad to find out about the secret garden." Smiled Pan as she climbed into the small entrance to the oubliette.

Trunks, deciding that he might as well, followed her, "Do you have a lot of secret passageways in this palace?"

Pan stopped and thought for a bit, "Quite a bit, there are escape tunnels built long ago, and there are even more passageways that even I don't know about. But my mother and sisters have no idea that some of them even exists, but as for my father. He knows most of them, so that's why I have to be careful when he's around. But this is one of the few passages that he doesn't know about." 

Trunks nodded, back in the Beijita castle, there are numerous hidden routes underground as well, but most of them were for the purpose of assembling troops in case of war. He highly doubt a place called the '_Secret Garden_' would be used to train soldiers.

As he followed Pan through the small and quite dirty oubliette, he examined the low ceiling carefully to make sure that cobwebs did not get tangled in his hair. Pan stopped in front of a wall, ran her hand along the dusty grey bricks, until she tapped a particular one three times, a rumbling sound came from behind the wall that made Trunks jump, she slid the brick out of place, reached inside the gap until she pulled out a small box. As she lifted the lid, Trunks half expected some evil monster to pop out of it and devour him live, but all she took out was a key. 

Pan tapped on one of the ceiling bricks three times, and the ceiling flipped over, revealing a small, almost invisible latch door, similar to the first one, except this one had a series of locks on it, Pan used the key to open the first one, and tapped various other bricks to reveal the other keys to unlock the door.

"This is an awful lot of trouble that you're going through." Commented Trunks.

 Pan smiled at him, "It's worth it, believe me, I wouldn't want my father to find out."

The door finally opened and Pan placed all the keys back in their places and climbed out of the hole in the ceiling, motioning for Trunks to do the same.

As they both climbed out, they were in another small room, except this one was bright and the wall was gilded gold. Pan reached for her necklace with the tri-pointed star on it, and it turns out that the star was actually a key. She slid the key in a small narrow slot on the edge of the wall.

            Further rumbling came, causing Trunks to jump again, but this time when Pan pushed the wall, it flipped sideways, leading into the secret garden.

Pan grinned at Trunks and stepped into the exquisite garden.

Trunks followed her and wondered what the secret garden would be like, fluffy clouds with unicorns on them? A fiery fire land with dragons roaming about? A watery paradise with countless mermaids surrounding it? 

Pan simpered, "Well? How do you like it? It's my little Arcadia"

Trunks said the first thing that came into his mind as he observed the mythical Utopia.

"Wow . . ."  
  


                                                                            End of Chapter 1

**            So there you have it, end of chapter one, thank you all for the most wonderful reviews for last chapter. And yes, it is true, almost every chapter in this story will be this length, I hope you guys like this story so far.**

            Plot is quite simple right now, it revolves around Pan and Trunks, but as the plot progresses, there will be a twist in this story, but not anytime soon, in the next chapter, both 'the gathering' and the 'secret garden' will be revealed. I will try to update again as soon as I can. Comments and Feedback can speed up the process, so in other words . . . please leave a little review for the anxious author.

**            Thank you. And again, for the record, I have finished my pickle.**

                                                                              -_Juunanagou4ever _


	3. Of Unexpected Expectations

                                                                        The Silver Sea             Thanks to all who asked me about my pickle ... thank you! 

**            A great big thanks to both _Akira Gown_ and _Deidra!_**

**            This fic was acting up, the word count said it was something like 21000, but the last two chapters only consisted of 11817 words, I think it's pretty long for two chapters, but not THAT long … anyway, that's why I must thank _Akira_ _Gown _& _Deidra_, for helping me fix the problem.**

            Now, it's only a friendly relationship between Trunks and Pan ... but you all know that that's not going to last . . . too long, eh? ^~

**            I am not eating a pickle right now, actually, I for once am not eating anything! **

                                                                         **_Chapter 2: Of Unexpected Expectations_**

Ever seen a beautiful sunset? Or been in a meadow full of blooming flowers? Or just sat down somewhere listening to the peaceful singing of birds, the croaking of frogs, the hooting of owls, or the call of the nature? Ever stood in front of a furious waterfall, splashing into a crystal clear lake? Ever seen a whole lake of vibrant lily pads, every single one glittering and wet with the drops of water a little frog might have caused by jumping on them? Ever walked down a deserted beach holding hands with a loved one? Or been into outer space gazing at the countless constellations? Or been walking in a forest admiring every single creature that has ever come into existence?

  Well, basically, this was what Prince Trunks was feeling right at the moment, except he was a prince, a prince who had to attend daily meetings on how to manage a whole country, a prince who had to live with people constantly trying to assassinate him. A prince who always had a horde of girls begging for him to notice her. A prince who had to attend wars and direct the entire military force. A prince who had to make decisions that would not only affect his life, but the lives of everyone in the country.

Being so used to being in control of everything and everyone, and always having the weight of an entire kingdom resting on his shoulders, it was rare for him to have even a single moment of peace, and it was even rarer for him to actually enjoy it.

Trunks had seen quite a few splendid sights in his life, and this was one of them.

The so-called secret garden was not what he had expected, he expected a garden with blooming flowers, bunny rabbits with abnormally large heads and small bodies, and a pink sky, fluffy clouds with unicorns prancing about.-

At least, that what he expected of a girl's _secret garden_.

But then again, Pan was not the average girl, and he knew that, so perhaps he was expecting an unexpected garden, which was also expected, because, Pan was already unexpected, but if it was already expected, how could the garden be unexpected?

And did he actually expect to understand what he was thinking?

So, as Trunks' mind tittered away about whether the garden was expected or unexpected, Pan asked in her impatient way, "What do you think?"

Trunks fumbled for an answer, "It's a very unexpected garden from an unexpected girl, which would also be expected, since two negatives expectantly make a positive, but it wasn't expected, and yet it also was, in an unexpected way. Do you understand what I'm saying?" 

Pan shook her head, "I do not expect I do, and I expect that you probably didn't expect that I understood either, then we both expected that our understanding was unexpected, which means that we expected to be unexpected, thus, making our unexpected expectations to be expectedly unexpected."

Trunks frowned, running a hand through his hair, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Me neither."

They both paused for a second before bursting with laughter. Trunks' was his prince-like laugh with the slightest implement that his brain hurt from all the unexpected expectations, and Pan's was of her genuine laugh that just expressed her happiness with no implement whatsoever.

Once they have stopped laughing, which took a while, to tell you the truth, Trunks took a second look at the unexpectedly expected garden, which was more beautiful then he'd first seen it, since the sun was setting and a beautiful magenta colour mixed with the rich blue colour, thus making a shade of unexpected gorgeousness.

How does one describe paradise? How did Trunks expect to describe the garden? Words could not express what he had seen.

The garden lay on the north face of the castle, hidden by the mountainous regions around the western and eastern edges, above the hillside, sivery spindle-grass threaded up through the pavement. The dirt paths, of which looked like grains of gold from the luxurious sun rays, had snaked sinewy creepers, their long, twining tendrils dotted by wine-scented blossoms with petals of gold. All trees of which he had never seen before surrounded the garden, each with a different fruit, the ground was off a beautiful jade green grass, with the tiniest wildflowers growing here and there. The garden slowly curved up, thus forming a cliff, and beyond the cliff, was all of the Son Kingdom, with all it's beauties and splendors, the rushing water indicated that they were not on top of a waterfall, but behind it, thus making the secret garden hidden. And when one looked through it, the splashing water seemed to inflict a magnificent rainbow towards them.

An oval shaped lake filled with not blue water, but a water that seemed golden from the setting sun's rays with the slightest of ripples brushing from the edges was in the middle of the garden. 

But the most wonderful of all, was not in the garden, but above it, the sky seemed surprisingly clear and the rich, colours seemed to add sparkle to the garden. Trunks the eagle soar triumphantly overhead, and the cricking of the crickets just seemed to make everything even calmer.

Pan interrupted Trunks' thoughts by leading him to the very top of the cliff, and indicated for Trunks to look down, and he smiled as he looked at the villages and the streams and the mountains and all the wonderful sights below.

He felt like he was on top of the world.

Yet, he should have always felt that way, whether if he was leading the army, running his soon-to-be country, or just been a prince.

But when he was doing those things, he received his pleasure from having power, taking charge over others' lives, knowing that at the blink of an eye, he can destroy an entire village.

But at the moment, as he was starting right there, on top of the cliff, looking down at the world, his mind didn't switch to him taking charge of others, he was glad that he could see the world in such a way that others couldn't, he felt fortunate to be there, at the moment.

So instead of feeling that the world owed him for being there, he was thanking the world for a glimpse of the beautiful scenery.

"So, I take it that you like it?" Asked Pan, looking up at him with those large, innocent yet mischievous eyes of hers.

"I take it that I do." Answered Trunks, smiling at her, and not a smile that of a prince's, but of a friend's.

"So, this is where you will meet me tonight at exactly one hour from midnight." Pan nodded.

"How will I get here?" Asked Trunks, unsure that he wanted to find all those keys.

Pan bit the edge of her lip and thought out loud, "Gee . . . well, maybe you should meet me in my balcony after all, then we can both come here at the same time."

"That makes sense." Trunks took one last glimpse at the spectacle below him before turning around, "But I have one question."  
"Shoot."

"Pardon me?"

Pan sighed and shook her head, "Never mind, go ahead and ask."

"If this is your secret garden, and you haven't shown any of your sisters or parents, why are you showing me all this?" Trunks wanted to know.

Pan sighed once more and tapped him on the shoulder, "Well, duh! Because you're my friend!"

"I see." Said Trunks, "But aren't your sisters your friends?"

Pan turned around, rewrapping her stole around her neck, "No, they're not, they're just my sisters, and I've never had a friend within the palace before, the royals are all snobby, and the servants are always too afraid of doing anything wrong. Although I do have my friends in the village, they are not here when I need them, they cannot be here, and I can't even be seen with them. So, I dunno, it's just, you're my brother-to-be, and I've never had a brother before ...  so ..." She trailed off, fidgeting with her stole.

"You tried making friends with servants?" Trunks smirked, "They must have been frightened."

Pan grinned, "They were, they thought that they were doing something wrong and I was going to punish them."

"Which was probably unexpectedly expected of you."

Pan punched him on the shoulder, "Don't get that started again!"

Trunks placed a hand on his shoulder, "That wasn't too ladylike of you, you realize. But then again, you are not really a lady yet."

"Oh" A murderous smirk appeared on Pan's lips, "Since I'm not a lady, I guess I am qualified to do ...  this!"

She pushed Trunks backwards, not too much, but just enough for him to lose his balance at fall headfirst into the lake, causing a huge wave to splash towards Pan, who was completely drenched, "Look what you did!" She screeched, holding up her cape, which was soaking wet.

"I am very sorry." Trunks spat out some water and glared at the complaining girl, "I did not know that you were going to push me into a lake."

"You better be sorry!" Wailed Pan, "You should've been on your guard or something, now look at my cape!"

Trunks muttered to himself as he smoothened out his wet hair, "You are the only one that has ever dared to push me into a lake . . . twice!"

  Pan snatched off her cape, "Oh, what's the point! It's ruined!"

"My hair, you mean!" Trunks yelled.

"My cape is more important than your hair any day!" Pan screamed back.

"If this is what friends are like, I think I would rather not have any." Sighed Trunks as he climbed out of the lake.

"But wasn't that unexpectedly expected of me?" Asked Pan while giggling at her own question.

"Shut up." 

"Oooo, touchy prince."

                                                                         ~*~

"And where, may I ask, were you?" Gohan's voice was directed at Pan, but his eyes were fixed on Trunks.

"I was just showing him around." Shrugged Pan casually, "Just so he didn't get lost."

It wasn't a total lie, she showed him around, just not within the palace. But then again, maybe the secret garden was actually a part of the palace.

"Was it raining outside?" Asked Gohan, one eyebrow arched as he sat in his golden chair attending some paperwork.

"No, of course not." Pan replied without thinking, "Why would you think that?"

"Your hair."

Trunks swore that Gohan was glaring at him, but he couldn't be sure, after all, it was Pan who had pushed him in the lake, but the looks that the king was giving him were making him nervous.

"I um . . . took a bath?" Suggested Pan meekly.

"Oh, really? And did Prince Trunks take a bath too?" Gohan demanded rather than asked.

"You mean, with me?" Pan asked, not quite sure what her father meant.

Trunks gulped, did she really want him killed? Was she so naïve that she couldn't see the daggers that King Gohan was throwing at him?   
            "Heh . . . heh . . . what a witty sense of humour you have, Pan." Laughed Trunks weakly.

Gohan stood up from his seat and walked slowly towards the two of them, "Yes, Pan, hilarious."

Pan tilted her head, confused at why everyone was calling her witty, and hilarious, "But I didn't say anything funny . . . unless, you want a joke?"

"No, Pan, that's quite alright." Gohan shook his head, his arms folded across his chest.

"It's really funny!" Pan yelled happily, "Really! Okay . . . here it is! What goes black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white . . .?"

"Pan, I really don't think-" Gohan started but was cut off by his grinning daughter.

"A penguin rolling down a hill!"

Nobody except Pan laughed, and she began to talk again, "What is grey and has four legs and a trunk?"

"Pan, I am aware of the fact that you can tell a joke, but-" Once again, Gohan was cut off.

"A mouse going on vacation!" Pan screamed as she laughed furiously.

"Pan, stop it this instant!" Gohan yelled.

Unfortunately, the girl paid to attention to her father whatsoever, she raised a hand and giggled, "Oooh! Oooh! I got another one! What is hairy and coughs?"

This time, before Gohan even had a chance to say anything, Pan blurted out, "A coconut with a cold!"

            Trunks silently questioned himself if coconuts could even have colds, but Pan quickly said again, " And I have doctor jokes also!" She cleared her throat and cried out, "Doctor, doctor! I've only got fifty-nine seconds to live."

"Wait a minute, please . . ." She howled with laughter at her own joke. 

 Gohan shook his head, "Pan, listen, I've paperwork to do, you can tell me your jokes another time."

"Doctor, doctor! I can't stop telling lies!" Pan, once again, ignored her father.

"I don't believe you!"

             "Doctor, doctor! I feel like an apple!" She laughed.

"We must get to the core of this."

"Doctor, doctor! I feel like a sheep!" Pan seemed to not care about the two men staring at her strangely and continued on with her jokes, "That's baaaaaad!"

"Pan!" Gohan bellowed.

Pan stopped laughing and glanced up and her dad, "Er . . .yes?"

"I'd like to have a word with you." Gohan voice was dangerously deep, "Prince Trunks? Can you please excuse us?"

"Of course." Trunks shot a look at Pan and left, closing the door gently.

Pan looked back at her father and grinned sheepishly, "Would you like another doctor joke, dad?"

Gohan did not answer his daughter, instead, he walked closer to her and said sternly, "Pan, I will not have this behaviour with you, and especially in front of Prince Trunks, who is our guest."

Pan blinked a few times, not quite sure of what her father was talking about.

"It is good that you are friendly with Prince Trunks, but you must remember, he is here to visit Seiya, who he will marry." Gohan lectured.

"Aw, I know all that." Pan waved her hand impatiently, "Jeez, I was just trying to make him welcome, he is going to be my big brother, anyhow."

"Going to be." Gohan locked eyes with his daughter, "Does not mean that he is your brother at the moment, 'going to be', does not mean that you can do whatever you want in his presence, 'going to be', does not mean that you can include him in those experiments of yours, understand?"

Pan nodded, her eyes fixed on the marble floor that she was standing on.

Gohan placed a hand on her head, "I know that you desperately want a friend in the palace, but I think it would be more appropriate if you associated with people of your own age, Princess Margaret and Princess Anne are both within your age group, you may visit them when you wish."

"But, dad! They hate me! Really!" Pan moaned.

"They do not hate you." Gohan sighed exasperatedly, "Why is it that you cannot accept people? Why is it that you cannot let your guard down? Although your steel walls might be a good thing, you will never be a true lady the way you are acting now, take Seiya, she is beautiful, graceful and amiable, all the qualities of a true princess, why-"

"That's right, I can't accept people, I can't let my guard down, so what if I'm not a true lady?" Pan cried, "I don't care! All I know is that everyone hates me! Even you hate me!"

"Pan, I do not hate you." Gohan said softly, "I love you the way you are, for you will always be a daughter of mine, but all I'm trying to say is that it might be easier on yourself if you tried to make friends, you might be able to-"

"I have friends!" Pan yelled, "I have friends that are better than any royal! I don't need other friends!"

Gohan stared at his daughter intensely, "Pan, those village boys are **not** your friends, they are third class, you are a royal, they may be nice and friendly, but as far as I am concerned, you are a royal, and royals cannot associate with commoners."  
"Well, what if I don't want to be a royal? Was I given a choice? No!" Pan glared at her father.

"I do not want to hear such things coming from you." Gohan all but yelled at his daughter, "As I have said many times before, it is not a matter of wanting, it is a matter of doing, and since you were born a royal, you will stay a royal, which also means that you will not be allowed off palace grounds from now on."

Pan opened her mouth to argue, but her father shushed her by raising his hand, "You may also not see Prince Trunks, unless it is a family affair, or if it is because of Seiya, he is wishing to return to his country as quick as possible, and you must not hinder him."  
"Great! Just great! Go and ruin the one friend I had in this crummy place, won't you? And while you're at it, why don't you paint my room white and pink, and make me wear puffy skirts and turn your so-called daughter into some snobby, stuck-up princess? Obviously, you don't care who I am, or what I am, or about me at all!" Pan stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

            Gohan sighed softly at the closed door, "I do care, and that's why I cannot bare it if something bad happened to you ..."

                                                                        ~*~

"Of course." Answered Trunks, his arms still folded across his chest, "I do agree."

The gentle raven-haired girl set down her cup of tea, "The political government of our countries are completely different, yet the way that both of our countries prosper the same way, through war and trade, although, I do not think that war is the solution to everything."

Trunks rolled his eyes, that was the thing with girls, can't bear to see a drop of blood, can't bear to see people dying, can't bear to see violence. That was also the reason why they could never survive on their own, their so-called kindness enfeebled their bodies and minds.

She trained? Trunks laughed mentally recalling Pan's comment on how her older sisters both use to train, he eyed Seiya again and wondered if she could stand up on her own, it doesn't look like she's got a single muscle on her body, sure, she may be thin and pretty, and that was most princes liked, but Trunks wasn't like most princes, and pale, skinny girls disgusted him, they were pretty to look at, but that was it. There is hardly any other use for them. He preferred girls that actually had an opinion of some sort, instead of sitting around all day, smiling and looking pretty.

Too bad that kind of girl didn't exist.

All he cared about was going home, once he gets married, he'll be able to take over the throne. Then he'll be in charge of everything and everyone. But, the strict king Gohan wasn't allowing him to take his princess with him until he had proven that he actually _loved _Seiya.

How was he going to do that? He never _loved _anyone in his life? Was he to pretend that he _loved _the princess? But how could he when he didn't know what he was supposed to pretend?

What is _love,_ anyways?

Love was an emotion, he was sure of that, but what did it feel like? Was it warm? Was it cold? Was it tickly? Was it fluffy? He wasn't sure, and probably never will be sure, since love was for the weak …

He was anything but weak …

He was strong …

"Prince Trunks?" Seiya asked, since his mind had wandered off into space

"Oh, I am very sorry." Trunks snapped back to reality to face his fiancée, was there any way that he could fall in love with her? Could he bring himself to love her?

She was very pretty, and beauty was definitely a factor of love.

_Or was it?_

He shook his head, since he didn't want to think such confusing thoughts, all he wanted to know now, is how to get out of the so-called _gathering _that night.

But really, how could he marry her if Gohan had to make sure that he loved her? And how was he supposed to love her when he didn't know how? He'd gladly pretend, except he'd need to know what love was first.

He had a serious problem, and if he wanted to return to his country anytime soon, he'd need to ask someone about it.

He usually did not like running to others about his problems.

But this was quite serious, and thus, it brings up a new question, who could he ask?

Well, obviously none of his servants, they'd be frightened to know that their prince was asking them what love was.

            He _could_ ask the kind queen, Videl, he was pretty sure that she wouldn't mind telling him. But he didn't want her to tell Gohan that he had never loved before, what if he broke the engagement?

            Maybe he could ask Pan? Although he seriously doubt that she, as a teen, would know. But it was worth a try, right? Since she was one of the few that actually were kind to him, and weren't afraid of him.

            After all, she did threaten to squash him like a bug …

            He shook his head once more and told himself that the situation wasn't _that _desperate yet, he'd take it easy, and see how it goes. As he looked at the smiling princess sitting across from him, he didn't think he felt any difference.

            Maybe that'll change. He certainly hoped so, because he needed to return to his country soon.

            And this time, he was to return … with a bride.

                                              _What goes black and white and black and white and black and white?_

            A little voice suddenly popped up in Trunks' head, and while he didn't understand the crude meaning of Pan's jokes before, somehow, his brain had managed to retrieve them for his cranium was swelling up at the thought of him having to love Seiya. 

            A penguin rolling down a hill, since penguins were black and white, and its body would twirl from the actions of rolling down the hill, it would be black and white and black and white …

            Trunks snickered, it was such an ignorant joke, that it was too dumb to be funny, yet he still found it slightly amusing.

                                                              _What is grey and has four legs and a trunk?_

            Elephants were grey, they had four legs, and a long trunk, but that would've been the obvious solution, instead, Pan's answer was a mouse going on vacation, so, mice were grey also, had four legs, and one would naturally bring a trunk along on a vacation.

            Again, Trunks chuckled, where did she get these incredibly lame jokes? And why would he laugh at them?

 "Oh, Prince Trunks." Seiya exclaimed, "Forgive me for not noticing, you must be weary from the traveling, perhaps I should leave you to rest for the night."

Trunks was too busy laughing to take note of what she said, all he noticed was that she had stood up and left the room, oh great, now what would he do until eleven o'clock that night?

He leaned back in the large throne-like seat and sighed while glancing out the window. Trunks had never held interest at looking at stars, for he constantly had meetings to attend, armies to lead, and women to fend off. But now, nothing was expected nor required from him, he felt the burden of a whole country slowly lifting off of his chest.

Was this how ordinary citizens felt? Could they relax on a summer night without worrying about invading armies? Tax requirements? Weddings?

There was something required from him, Trunks suddenly realized, he needed a bride, soon.

And slowly, the heavy burden returned to him, but even so, he was glad that he could escape it all, if only for a second.

He was satisfied, it was not everyday that he was able to have a moment of serene peacefulness.

But the prince did not know what he was missing, and he didn't know that deep down, he wasn't satisfied.

For he wanted more …

Much more …

                                                                        ~*~

Why? Why did everyone despise her so much? What had she done to deserve this? Both of her sisters were perfect in every single way, her father was the ruler of an entire country, and her mother was referred to the descended angel from heaven to the villagers for her kindness and generosity, and what was she? She was nothing, she was a nobody, a princess gone wrong? For goodness sakes, she didn't even look like her parents!

The teenage princess sat quietly on her bed, she was never one to cry, even when it was the hardest of times, but she really did hate the way everyone treated her, like a kid, a kid who hadn't a care in the world.   

Especially her father, her father who _claimed _that he cared about her, who was also the same father who was forcing her to marry a man ten years her elder, who was also the same father who forbade her to see her very best friends just because they weren't first class citizens, and who also was the same father who forbade her to have keep the one friend that she had in this crummy place.

She sighed and wished that she was never born in this dreadful prison, that she had no royal blood running through her veins, that she didn't need to spend one more second in this hellhole. She should just run away or something.

"But you're a princess," Pan mimicked her father in the tone that she heard all too often, "And you must behave like a lady."

Not that she hadn't thought of running away before, and she would've too, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't leave the one person whom she admired, the one person that she had ever loved, the one person that showered her with gentleness and affection, the one person who was more like a mother than a sister, she just couldn't leave Seiya, and no matter how much she claimed that she hated the angelic princess, her sister would always be her idol. And sometimes, she wished that she was more like her sister rather than being herself. 

Prince Trunks was probably the luckiest guy in the world to marry her. It was funny, but Pan could never imagine herself married, she often fantasized about a gorgeous girl who had her dream man, but she could never fit herself into that perfect picture. After all, who would want to marry her? And why in the world would she want a husband anyways?

She wondered if her friends had such problems, they probably would never be forced into marriage, and everyone says that the royals had it easy, they had no idea …

As the ebony-haired girl glanced out the window, she realized that it was probably near midnight, and that she still needed to get ready for _the gathering_, not that she was in the mood anyways, she didn't really want to go outside when she was feeling depressed, but she wanted to prove that she was good for something, she still remembered that dreadful smile on Emmie's lips from the previous year when she had informed her best friend that she couldn't see anything at all.

"Now where is that _assistant _of mine?" Pan muttered while slinging her black shawl around her shoulders, "He better not be late …"

As if on cue, three knocks on the door was heard, and Pan cursed the prince's stupidity as she flung the door open, "Didn't I tell you to meet me in my balcony?"

"Good evening to you too, princess." A violet eyebrow was raised.

"Don't call me that!" Snapped Pan, "And somebody could've seen you knocking!" She eyed his outfit and added, "Not that it would be hard to spot you or anything."

Trunks glanced down at his own shimmering gold silk tunic and his fine silver velvet cape and then switched his glance to her black stola-like dress and ebon shawl, topped off with shiny brunet boots, "It seems that I have wrongly chosen my outfit for this occasion."    

"That's for sure …" Mumbled the ebony-eyed girl, she pulled the prince roughly into her room, "Why are you still standing in the hallway? You really are mindless, aren't you?"

"I do not consider myself mindless, thank you very much." Trunks smoothened out his sleeve, "And it wasn't very ladylike of you to pull me so roughly into your room."

"Did I hurt the poor prince?" Pan spat sarcastically, "Quit dawdling, we're going to be late."

"My dearest apologies, princess, but I was not hurt by your dainty movements." Trunks smirked.

"Don't call me that!" Pan yelled and spun around, causing her ponytail to flip about, missing the prince's face by mere inches.

"Well, well, looks like I've hit a nerve, eh, princess?" 

"You know what you are?" Pan stomped her foot.

"Incredibly charming in all visible aspects?" Suggested the prince, a visible grin on his enchanting face.

"Incredibly annoying in all possible ways." Nodded Pan firmly.

"You wound me deeply, princess, I do not think I will ever recover from such a insulting assault, oh, woe is me, and to think, coming from such a kind princess such as you. I shall never be the same, and-"

"Save the dramatics, okay?" Pan rolled her eyes and muttered, "You want to accompany me in _the gathering _or not?"

"I would prefer not too, but since it seems like you need me so desperately, I shall be a gentleman and accompany you in your little expedition, you should really thank me, princess." The prince smiled teasingly at his _little sister_.

Pan headed towards the door, and as she passed by the prince, as quick as lightning, she raised her foot and kicked the unsuspecting prince in the shins, "Thank you, prince, your help is greatly appreciated."

"How very ladylike of you, princess."

"Call me princess one more time and I'll rip your ignorant head off of that neck of yours and stick it on a stick to roast."

"I have acquired another comment for my book of threats from you, princess."

"I wonder if I have some salt in my room, heads do taste terrible without the right amount of spices on it." Pan opened the door, glanced around to make sure her father isn't coming round the corner and waved to Trunks that the coast was clear.

"Somehow, princess, that was quite unexpectedly expected of you." 

"Don't start, please." 

"I'm very sorry, princess, I shall have to watch what I say with you from now on, I wouldn't want that pretty little head of yours to become baffled, would I?" 

"I'm very sorry, prince, I shall have to take care of my actions from now on, I wouldn't want every purple hair on your head to be plucked out, would I?" 

"Violet, princess, violet." Corrected the prince, mildly smirking at the annoyed girl. 

"Whatever."

                                                                        ~*~

"My king, as you have wished, I have arranged a meeting with Prince Theseus approximately in one week from now." The ambassador bowed.

"One week? Why so soon?" Asked Gohan, "I specifically requested for the visit to be **after **Prince Trunks and Seiya's marriage."

"A war is being held between Beijita and Logozar, Prince Theseus needs to be with his country in the time of the war." 

King Gohan drew in a sharp breath, "I do not believe I have heard you correctly, was this the kingdom of Beijita that you have mentioned?"

"Yes, my king, King Vegeta claims that King Solourius sent spies in his country to observe the latest developments of his army, and he also claims that it was Prince Theseus himself who slain four of his elites to acquire his country's valued treasure, the Blood Sword."

"But, that cannot be, King Solourius wouldn't be as foolish enough as to send his own son to steal the legendary sword, would he?" Gohan staggered.

"We do not know." Answered the ebony-haired man, "But it is certain that both countries would want our assistance in battle."  

Gohan seemed to panic, "B-but, we have already agreed that Prince Trunks was to marry Seiya, and most of our country's oils and grains are imported from Logozar."

"Which means there is only one thing to do." The man spoke firmly.

"We must acquire back the Blood Sword from Logozar and return it to Beijita." The King stood up and nodded, "I'm entrusting you to do so."

"I will not fail you, my king." Bowed the ambassador. He turned around and left the room.

King Gohan sighed , trouble was brewing … and he didn't like it one bit …

What would happen if the Blood Sword was not retained? And the two countries would go to war? After all, the three countries were only separated by a single sea … and whose side would he assist on? Surely if he assisted neither, he would have two enemies instead of one … but if it really came down to it … he would **have **to assist Logozar in war for his own country would succumb without its trades, which would mean … going to war with … the king shook his head, he could not allow himself to think such negative thoughts, but for his sake, his daughter's sake, and his country's sake, he hoped that his brother can retrieve the sword successfully.   

                                                                        ~*~

"What must I do?" Asked Trunks, as he stepped into the garden alongside with Pan.

"You must hold up the three projectiles while I light the fuses." Pan pointed to a little island within the lake, "There's where you will do it."

"Projectiles?" Asked a slightly worried Prince, "As in … a bomb?"

"Bomb, explosive, grenade, missile, rocket, shell, ticker, torpedo, call it whatever you want. It makes no difference." Pan started to fly slowly towards the tiny island.

"I still am not used to the whole theory of a female flying …" Muttered Trunks, while realizing what Pan had just said, "What will we do with the … er … projectiles?"

"What else can we do with them?" Pan rolled her eyes, "Eat them? No, we throw them."

"Throw them?" Repeated Trunks, "You're not planning to destroy the castle … are you?"

"I'm not stupid, I made these projectiles, they shoot straight up." Pan sighed as she landed on the island, "Do you have to ask so many questions? Just hold them still while I light the fuses."

"Are you planning to hit some distant planet?" Questioned Trunks, "I will not aid you in this mad-"

"What's the matter? Is the prince scared?" Pan took out three small walnut like spheres from her pouch hanging around her wrist, "Of course, you know you do not **_have _**to help me with this."

"Oh I will, just as long as you will not attempt something ignorant and destructive." Trunks extended an outstretched palm.

Pan smiled and handed the _projectiles _to the prince, "Now, hold 'em up."

Trunks held up his arm with no particular interest in the matter and Pan pulled out three matches from her pouch, "Okay, make sure that the fuses are pointing up, we wouldn't want the projectiles to shoot the wrong way and blow you up instead."

The prince glanced nervously at the three deadly spheres in his outstretched hand, he switched the second sphere so that its fuse pointed to the dark sky instead of pointing at his head.

Pan hovered in the air, "Make sure you don't move, I'll get in a lot of trouble if you get blown up."

"I would suspect as much." Muttered the prince.

Pan slowly lit the matches with a tap of her finger, she held the blue flickering flames in front of the first fuse and grinned deviously, "Now, you have to be absolute certain that you won't move."

With the prince's consent, she arranged the matches in her hand and held the three fire points directly above the fuses, she tapped the fuses ever so gently with the matches and watch the fuse shorten.

The princess descended to the ground, and when she saw that the Prince wasn't moving, she yelled in frustration, "Throw them!"

"Pardon me?"

"Throw them before they blow up!"

"Throw them?" Questioned the prince, "Throw them where?"

"**YOU IDIOT! THROW THEM UP!**" 

Trunks seemed to get the message, and tossed the projectiles into the sky, "I thought you said that they ascended by themselves."

"When did I say that?" Pan eyed the sky and growled, "You were an inch away from being blown to bits, you idiot, and this better work."

"So you really are trying to destroy a distant planet, aren't you?" 

"Shut up and watch." 

"You should thank me for my assistance." Scowled Trunks, his arms folded.

Pan didn't throw him another comment, instead, she pointed to the sky, "Look! It's starting!"

Trunks stared to where she was pointing, little shimmers of light began to come into his vision, "The remains of an unfortunate star …"

But it was hardly that, the shimmers in the sky began to grow more frequent, and larger, brighter rays of light dashed across the night sky, lighting up the surrounding regions in a shimmer of glistening gold, a rainbow of silver light followed some others, the larger lights seemed to fly slower, giving the pair a clear look at the auriferous light. 

Pan squealed and jumped up in joy, "Yay! It worked! It actually worked!" The teen gave the prince a huge hug, "It actually worked!!"

Trunks smiled, "That wasn't very appropriate of you, as a lady, you shouldn't be able to have bodily contact with males, especially one such as splendid as I."

"Oh, well, sorry." Pan kicked Trunks' shin instead, "There, better?"

"Must you constantly attempt to injure me? You know there is no way that a female can hurt me in any way." Trunks glanced back up at the sky, where the rays of shooting light filled up almost the entire sky, "What are those?"

"They're shooting stars." Replied Pan, "See, the atmosphere here has always been very thick, so we can never see anything of the sort, but there's one hour in a year where the atmosphere tends to be thinner than the rest, and with the help of my super-duper projectiles, which release a kind of chemical reaction to make the atmosphere even thinner, they give us a clear view of the stars. Of course, you can only see the stars when you're standing here, in this garden, although it may look like the stars are filling up the entire sky, you cannot see it from the plains below, or even from a window in the palace. I'm guessing that the atmosphere above this garden is different than the rest, or something like that."

"Fascinating." Nodded Trunks, neither of them spoke again as they tilted their heads upwards to enjoy a moment of blissful silence, the prince smiled in spite of himself, there was something about the princess that made him … content, even when she argued and yelled at him, it was always satisfying in a strange sort of way, if anything, he was glad to have a little sister like her, he does have another sister back in his homeland, but when his own sister yelled at him, he would feel annoyed. Like here, as he was standing in the garden with her, he felt a strange feeling of happiness, like he belonged here, like he was destined to be looking up at the stars with her … Trunks laughed, it had to be some sort of effect of the projectiles, maybe the chemical reaction rubbed off on him since he was holding them, why else would he think such strange thoughts?

"Have you gone crazy?" Asked Pan, an eyebrow raised at the prince's strange behaviour. 

"I do not believe so." 

"Well, sane people do not burst out laughing without a reason." Corrected Pan, after a brief moment of musing, she blurted out, "You were thinking of my sister, weren't you?"   

Trunks shook his head, he hadn't thought of his fiancée in the entire night.

"Yes, you were!" Laughed Pan, "Oh, come on, you can tell me, were you having some sort of fantasy about her?"

"No, I was not." Trunks frowned.

"I won't tell her!" Pleaded the princess, "Really! You can trust me! I'm your sister, after all!"

"Honest, I was not thinking about your sister." Sighed the slightly exasperated prince.

"Please?" Pan whined, while proceeding to pout, "Oh, pretty please?"

Trunks sighed and rolled his eyes, "Alright, fine, I was thinking about your sister, are you satisfied now?"

"Yes! I knew it! What kind of fantasy?" The girl asked with gleaming bright eyes.

"I was not having a fantasy about your sister!" Trunks sighed once more as he glanced into the girl's pleading eyes, "Oh, all right, I was thinking of …" Trunks bit his lip, furiously pondering about what to make up, "How she would look in her wedding gown."

Pan seemed to accept that, and she smiled, "I hope she'll wear a black wedding gown, white gowns are so … traditional."

The prince chuckled, "I highly doubt that anyone but you would wear a black wedding gown."

"What's wrong with them?" Demanded Pan.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong with … black wedding gowns." Laughed Trunks as he tried to picture the princess in a black wedding gown, along with black shoes, and a black bouquet of roses, strangely, the image did come to his head, and it wasn't half-bad for that matter.

"Anyways, thanks for …" Pan said with a grin, "Helping me blow up half of the atmosphere of this country."

"Anytime, princess." Trunks paused, "The atmosphere will eventually return to normal, right?"

"Oh, yes, in a couple of weeks?" Mused Pan, "A month at the top."

"That's good news, I wouldn't be surprised if the atmosphere never returns to normal again." 

"What? Are you accusing me of endangering my country?" Pan cried.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, all right then." Pan grinned at the prince, and to her great surprise, he smiled in return.

"Shall we go in now?" Trunks asked, holding out his hand.

Pan nodded and took his hand and spoke in an old ladylike voice, "Yes, my deah, we certainly shall."

They both laughed at started to fly back to the other side of the lake, as they landed, the two began to walk back to the castle, Trunks spun around and gave Pan a small shove, just enough to make her fall backwards into the lake.

"You jerk!" Screamed Pan as she floated to the surface.

"Now we're even, well, not exactly, because you pushed me into the lake … twice, but because I am such a gentleman, I will accept our differences and call us equals," He held his hand out at Pan, "Here, I'll help you out, princess."

Pan grinned and held on to his hand, "Thanks a lot, Trunks." She smiled angelically at him and pulled him into the lake also.

After much spluttering and cursing from the prince, he frowned, a hurt look on his perfect features, "Now, princess, why did you go and do that?"

"The same reason why you pushed me into this lake." Pan giggled at him, "Anyways, wasn't that unexpectedly expected of me?"

She then smiled at the violet-haired prince, and for the second time in a day, he smiled back.

                                                                        **_End of Chapter 2_**

            Hey, hey! That was an extra long chapter on my part! Thank me! *bows* Anyways, this story is going much more successfully than I thought, on both my part and your part, mine because it's quite fun to write, and the ideas just come to me out of nowhere, and you seem to be giving me some excellent feedback … and a whole lot of it at that!

**            Thanks so much! I'm beginning to think that this story might be finished even before The Apple Tree! ^^;; But I promise to work on The Apple Tree as much as I can … **

**             More of your excellent feedback and comments would be greatly appreciated.**

**             Oh yeah! No cliffy! Now that I think about it … there hasn't been a single cliffie in this entire story! (the last chapter wasn't _really _a cliffie)**

**             One more thing, about Guiding Light, give the author a break here! She is the one changing the fic to suit the plot better, therefore, making the story easier to understand, and easier to write.**

**             Some understanding would be appreciated on the author's part.**

**                                                                        -_Juunanagou4ever_**


	4. Of Hermaphrodites and Piggyback Rides

                                                                        **The Silver Sea**

**            Hiya, I've been getting, a bunch of … or rather … I should say, a LOT of great feedback from all you guys, and all of them are positive comments, it's really great to hear all this excellent comment about this story, which, I do think is one of my best, because although Trunks and Pan may be a bit OOC, I think that the fact that I was able to capture a bit of their personalities and include them as easily as it comes to me is pretty wonderful. And if you've been wondering, why all these chapters are so long, it's because this story is probably, one of the most fun, and the easiest to write.**

**             Okay, now, there hasn't been any T/P action, just a beginning of a friendly relationship, I do not intend to throw in a dramatic T/P moment anytime soon, but who knows? Maybe I'll have the perfect place for it … and unlike my other stories, this won't be a hard-core romance, I will include some of Goten's adventures hunting for the Blood Sword, further conflicts between the three countries separated by the Silver Sea, and who knows? If I'm feeling generous, I might even throw in a G/B! ^ ~**

**              As for another thing … grammatical errors are pretty hard to exile completely from this fic … so, please excuse any spelling errors and grammar mistakes … **

**Minor T/P moments in this chappie … note –_Minor_– and no, I am not taking the T/P too quickly, think about how long these chappies are. **

**              ^ ~ Was that a clue of some sort? … I have no clue … heh … little pun there … get it? Clue? Clue?**

**              Vegeta: Shut the hell up and get on with the story!**

**              Poodle: For once, I agree with the freaky moron**

**              Okay, Okay … jeez … can't the author throwing a little pun once in a while?  **

**              So, again, thanks for all the inspiring feedback, enjoy this chappie, in which things get a LOT more complicated …**

**                                                 _Chapter 3: Of hermaphrodites and piggyback rides_**

****

****

            The morning sun shone brightly through the roof of Pan's bedroom chambers, the ebony-haired girl tossed over on her bed, clutching her black satin pillow with two hands, a smile was imprinted on the girl's cheery lips as the warm sunrays fell upon her room, lightening even the darkest of corners, as she opened one eye, something told her that it was going to be a great day, the Son Kingdom was usually a bright and sunny place, but today was especially beautiful and full of Sun, maybe it was because of the lack of atmosphere? Pan giggled as she slowly sat up and pulled on a magenta tunic embroidered with black and gold dragons, she reached for a black-handled brush and gently stroked her hair, as she was about to pull it back to tie it in a high ponytail, she decided not to, today was a day to do something different, the teenage girl yawned and shook her hair, allowing the silky strands to fall loosely on her back.

            Somehow, she was even looking forward to her schooling that morning, it was that kind of day. Even the mean and groggy old tutor might have been tolerated, as Pan stepped out of her room and walked into the grand hall, she smiled cheerfully at her father, attending his daily work, "Morning, dad!"

            "Oh, good morning, Pan, have you a good night's rest?" Gohan smiled, stopping his work to look up at his daughter.

            "Mm-hmm, really great." Pan laughed.

            At that moment, her sister stepped into the hall, a silver ribbon tied her hair at the top of her head, a dazzling white gown swaying against the ground, "Good morning, father, good morning, Pan."

            "Morning, Seiya, by the way, have you seen Mr. Whatshisface? Our lesson begins in fifteen minutes, and I really want to go swimming after our lesson."

            "I have not seen Mr. Waijubi this morning, although I do have a vague collection of him mentioning something about a meeting last week." Seiya looked at her father, who slapped his forehead in disbelief.

            "Oh, I have forgotten, he had to attend a meeting in Logozar this week, I've a lot of paperwork lately, and have forgotten to find you a replacement tutor for the week." 

            "Oh well, I guess I can't do my schooling today." Pan tried to look depressed, but a bright smile was seen on her face.

            "Perhaps you can tutor her for the day, Seiya." Gohan looked at his second eldest daughter expectantly.

            "I did have another arrangement with Prince Trunks today, but I'm sure that he wouldn't mind helping me." 

            Pan smiled, awesome, her big bro would be helping her sister with her schooling, it would be a blast, she'd gotten a bunch of new jokes.

            Gohan must've noticed, since he grinned at his daughter, "Too bad you couldn't always be so excited regarding your studies."

            Pan blushed and started jogging out of the room, "C'mon, Seiya, we have to be quick, 'cause I think I should go check on Trunks soon …" As a second thought, she added, "The eagle, I mean."

            "Goodbye father, have a pleasant morning." The beautiful elder princess curtsied.

            "Yeah, see ya, dad!" Pan waved and stomped her foot impatiently at her sister, "C'mon! We don't have all day!"

            As her sister followed her out of the room, Gohan sighed and stared down at his paperwork …

            _Something just doesn't feel right …_

    ~*~

            "So, when King Gokou, your grandfather, decided to free the thousand prisoners who were in jail for treason, everybody opposed of his decision." 

            "Why would he want to do that?" Asked Pan.

            Seiya smiled at her younger sister, "Your grandfather was a kind man, it is a shame that you were not able to meet him. He always knew what needed to be done, and he always did it."

            "But why did he free the prisoners?"

            "They would've been executed the very next day, your grandfather could not bear to see them die."

            "But they tried to kill him, didn't they?" 

            "Yes, they did try to kill him, but they failed, and that's how they were captured."

            "He sounds like an idiot to me."

            "Pan!"

            Prince Trunks, who was standing nearby, chuckled softly, she really did have a way of words, didn't she?

            Seiya sighed softly, "Your grandfather had such a kind heart, he couldn't bear to harm a fly."

            Pan raised an eyebrow, "How could he run a country, then?"

            Seiya smiled mysteriously, "He had his ways, because of his kindness to all the citizens, they were all very loyal and would sacrifice their lives for him."

            "But, I don't get it, if they all were loyal, why would some people wanna kill him?" Pan asked baffled.

            Seiya rose from her chair, "If I recall correctly, father has a few books in the library regarding the prisoners, wait here, I shall return."

            Pan watched her sister leave the room, she smiled and leaned back in her chair, resting her feet on the table, "My grandfather was weird."

            "How so?" Asked Prince Trunks.

            "Oh, gimme a break, if someone tried to kill you and were put in prison, would you set them free?" Pan rolled her eyes and twirled a strand of ebony hair with her fingers.

            "They wouldn't have the chance in the first place." Smirked the prince, "There are no rebellions in my country."

            "Says you, why else would there be so much wars, then?"

            "Frieza started all the wars."

            "So, she's a rebellion, isn't she?"

            Trunks frowned, "I am not sure if Frieza was a female."

            "Okay, so, **he**'s a rebellion, isn't he?" Asked the princess with no apparent interest in what sex Frieza was.

            "I am not sure if Frieza was a male, either." Trunks frowned again.

            Pan giggled, "So … it's hermaphroditic?"  

            The prince smiled, he was surprised that the girl even had a word like that within her vocabulary, "I'm supposing so."

            Pan laughed and fell further back in her chair, "What about **it's** troops? Are they male or female?"

            "Who knows, they are quite revolting to look at, I usually just kill all of them before I get a chance to look at them." 

            "Wow! Really? How awesome!" Squealed the princess, still laughing at Frieza being bi-sexual, "You must be an awesome fighter! It'd be so cool, just ripping through Frieza's army like opening a birthday present. "

            Prince Trunks mused silently to himself, while grinning at the princess who was doubling over with giggles, _she's quite perculiar, a naïve child who is full of curiosity and admiration during the daytime, and a mysterious young woman whom has a dangerous, yet intriguing side at night, perhaps a witch had cast a spell on her … but, which is the real her? And what if she was the witch?_

As Prince Trunks wondered about whether Pan was a witch, and while Pan was still laughing like crazy at Frieza being a hermaphrodite, Princess Seiya had re-entered the room, walking gracefully along the mosaic tiled floor with three thin books in hand. Pan stopped giggling for a second to tell her sister what was so funny, "S-Seiya, did you know that Frieza was a hermaphrodite?"  
           "No, I was not aware of that fact." Seiya sat down in the large throne-like chair and flipped open the cover of the first book, all the meanwhile, asking her younger sister with no particular interest, "Where did you learn that from?"

"Trunks, of course." Pan smiled, "No, not the eagle, the person."

"I am well aware of the fact that eagles are not able to speak, Pan." Commented Seiya while shooting the prince a _'Why the hell did you go and get Pan so hyper? Now she probably won't stop laughing during the whole lesson, causing my efforts to educate her about my nation's history to be in vain' _look.

Prince Trunks smirked for no particular reason, he folded his arms across his chest, which he does quite often, and watched with mile amusement as Seiya tried to teach Pan about King Gokou and his ways. Unfortunately, the teenager was not in a mood for history lessons, she kept stating non-pertinent comments, and non-pertinent questions, such as

_Did Grandpa really used to have bigger hair than dad?_

_Did Grandpa take bathes often?_

_Did Grandpa have pets?_

_What were Grandpa's views on eagles?_

_Did Grandpa like me?_

_Did Grandpa like you?_

_Did Grandpa …_

And so on, while the older Princess tried as hard as she could to answer all of her younger sibling's questioning, the little girl proved to be to much for her and Seiya declared that the lesson was over. While the teen jumped from joy at being able to finally attend to her swimming, the prince had a grin imprinted on his face.

                                                            **~*~**

It will be autumn soon … the golden hues of the leaves were evident, even the Silver Sea was surprisingly calm, the lone Saiya-jin stood on the edge of the shore, staring out at the beyond … it was his duty to sneak in to Beijita and find out if Prince Theseus really did steal the sword, and if he did, he were to retrieve it … somehow …

The boy sighed, and how the hell was he supposed to do that? Everyone expected so much out of him … he hated it … absolutely hated it … but who was he to talk? At least he was the ambassador … but then again, ambassadors don't usually go on suicidal missions … and why wasn't he the prince? Or the captain of the royal army? The Son Kingdom may be a great country, but when it came to the royal bloodline, there were some weird rules. 

            He should be the captain of the royal army.

He should be a prince. 

He should be the king.

He loved his brother more than he loved himself, but as the second-born, there are many forbidden thoughts that often venture into his head, his brother wasn't fit for taking care of an entire country … he couldn't even handle his family. 

Take Prince Vinge, rather a greedy little thing, he did not care for anything but fortune, and his niece, Zeyi, cold enough as she was, needed a husband who could care for her, who could set a place beside his heart for her, who could love her. 

And then, there is Prince Trunks, he hasn't really met him yet, but from what he's heard from travelers and so, he was a ruthless man who cared only for power, he despised women of any kind, the kind hearted Seiya would be going to waste marrying him, harsh as it seems, it was the truth.

And now, his brother even dared to engage his very favourite niece, Pan, to a womanizer like Theseus, what was wrong with Gohan? Theseus would never appreciate Pan, not even for her light-hearted laugh and her large, bright eyes. Pairing her up with Theseus was like pairing a dolphin and a hyena together, the two just didn't mix.

Goten looked up into the sky, the only way to become king is to have Gohan killed, something he could never do, something he would never do, unfortunately, it was too late for Zeyi, she was already married, but he would break the remaining engagements, even if it killed him.

People just weren't destined to be together …

Which is why he would never get married …

And it was his destiny to find the sword …

Wherever it was …

                                                             ~*~

King Vegeta paced back and forth around the room, fists clenched, teeth gritted, his only son was in his mortal enemy's country, trying to marry that bastard Gohan's daughter in hopes of a country alliance. Which sure as hell, wasn't going to happen now, Gohan would side with Logozar in a second, marriage or no marriage, although Beijita proved to be quite a force to be reckoned with in the past, the Son kingdom had ancient strategies, and Logozar had sources and technology… if only he could kill King Gohan somehow, but the king had tight security, the only way is if someone under his nose would do it.

But it would be impossible to get men to sneak into the castle.

Although he wouldn't need that much, two, three would do for a formidable undercover team, two or three elites.

And then, they could retreat back to Beijita, what happens to the rest of the palace was no matter, Kakarotto's second son would take over the throne soon enough, but there would be enough chaos and confusion for a while to avoid war, in the meantime, he could tackle Logozar with concentrated forces, without the Son Kingdom's aid, the country would most likely crumble.

But then again, it would be impossible to kill King Gohan, even if he had men, Gohan's fighting abilities has already surpassed his father's, but he was young, lack of experience. King Vegeta frowned, he needed to get men in the castle. That seemed like the only logical solution here.

Someone needed to assassinate King Gohan.

But if not done properly, they could be discovered, thus, war would be rushed, he couldn't have that.

He needed someone powerful, full of experience, someone that he knows who wouldn't betray him, someone that King Gohan trusts.

And then it came to him.

His son.

His only son.

His only son who would assassinate King Gohan.

King Vegeta laughed out loud, he would protect his kingdom, however high the price, and now, he's got a pawn right under the king's nose. Only one problem, his son didn't necessarily know what he was to do, how could he contact him?

Another answer came out of nowhere, all of the royal blood should be able to just think their thoughts, King Vegeta remembered his father telling him about it, it did work with his wife, and Trunks' blood was half Bulma's, he couldn't lose anything by trying, could he?

King Vegeta sat down in his throne, what had his father taught him? Oh yeah, concentrate, and focus on the person's psyche. Sounds easy enough.

He felt his own psyche searching for his son's, and as he sat there in his throne, trying his hardest to concentrate, time passed.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

Twenty-Five minutes later, just as the king was about to lose concentration and give up, he felt a faint pull at his psyche, his lips rose into a smirk as he felt his son's confused psyche ponder why he could sense his own father.

"Trunks." Vegeta muttered.

He felt his son twitch in surprise, yet no reply came as his son frantically searched around for where the voice came from.

"Son." Vegeta muttered once more.

This time, his son stumbled back, the king could tell, his son's psyche seemed to flicker, yet it was still there, but to the king's frustration, still no reply came.

"**BOY! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!**" Barked Vegeta.

His son jumped this time, yet he could hear, or rather … feel his son's feeble voice, "F-Father?"

"Yes, boy, it is I." Sighed Vegeta, finally, the dolt had the sense to reply, "I have a mission for you."

"Er … what is it?" Came his son's uncertain voice again.

"First of all, how close have you gotten to that princess?" Asked Vegeta, his plan wouldn't really work if his son was in love, oh, how he hoped that it wasn't the case.

"Which one?" His son had the nerve to ask.

"What the hell are you talking about, boy? How many princesses are you marrying?" Demanded the king, his son must be even more of a dolt than he had expected.

:"Oh … I see … er …" Vegeta felt his son pause to think about the correct response to his question, "Fairly well?"

"Are you in love?" 

Another pause came, followed by his son muttering to himself, "I'm going crazy, imagining talking to my father about my fiancée."

"**BOY!**" Yelled Vegeta, "**I don't have all day!**"

"No, at least, I don't think so …" Came the reply.

"Alright, that's good, now, I want you to get King Gohan to trust you."

"Erm … sure …"

Vegeta sighed, here comes the hard part, "Then I want you to kill him."

"**WHAT?**"

"You heard me, kill him, however way you want, just make sure no one will know that it's you."

There was no reply for a while, and then when one did come, it was no more than a squeak, "You … want … me … to … kill …"

"Yes," Hissed Vegeta with impatience.

Another lengthy pause came … finally Trunks asked, "How come I can hear you in my head?"

Vegeta growled, he did not want to explain, but he felt that he might as well if he wanted to get anywhere, "It is something that the ancients left us, the royals are all able to communicate with each other by their psyches, given that they have a psyche, it runs in the blood. Now boy, do you understand what I'm asking to do? "

Trunks managed to chuckle nervously, "I'm sorry, father, I keep on thinking that you are asking me to kill …"

"I am."

"Oh … I see …"

"No, you don't, you dolt." Vegeta clutched his hair in frustration, how'd this idiot turn out to be _his _son? "War is going to be declared soon … by us … and we couldn't possibly win it since more than half of our troops were wiped out by Frieza, and to prevent this, we, or rather, you have to assassinate King Gohan, thus, his country shall be in chaos, and war can be prevented."

"But father, I do not understand, we're the ones declaring war, but we don't want war?" The prince puzzled baffledly, "Just how does that work out? And I still do not understand why I can hear you in my head."

"You idiot, our ancient treasure is now in the hands of our enemy country? What do we do? We fight, that's what!" Vegeta sighed regretfully, "Even if we cannot win, we have to still fight, it is our custom, it is our way. Even if thousands of people die, we must retain our pride, but when you kill King Gohan, we wouldn't have to declare war, and even if we did, we would win the war. The sword alone is no matter, it is the prevention from King Solourius from gaining satisfaction, do you understand?" 

"No … not really."

Vegeta stomped his foot just then, how he wished to strangle his son at that second, "You don't have to understand, just wait for a perfect chance to assassinate King Gohan, and make sure that no one knows that it was you."

"But …"

"Besides," Came the final shot, "You are not to return to Beijita until you do."

That got Trunks panicking … he was striving to return to his kingdom, and here he is, forbidden from his motherland until he is to kill his soon to be father-in-law, for such an impertinent reason … pride, yet he had to decide quickly, what was more important to him? To return to his country and become king, or to kill a King for no reason at all, therefore sending a peaceful country into chaos, and destroying his fiancée's heart?

"All right, father, I am still not sure what you're talking about, but I'll try to kill the king."

"Try?" Questioned the high king.

"I will kill the king." Stated Trunks simply, it wasn't going to be any harder than any other kills he had done before.

Vegeta smirked, maybe the boy wasn't such a dolt after all, "I'll be waiting for you, my son."

Having said all that was necessary, the King stood up from his throne and left to find his beloved wife, leaving a highly baffled prince wondering what just happened? Or if he was delirious from something …

                                                            ~*~

Pan kicked the stone wall with her foot, oh, how she hated her father, she should be allowed to go and visit her friends, it wasn't fun swimming without them, but when she suggested inviting them up to the castle, he all but exploded. The teen scowled slightly but then was reminded that her older brother could possibly come swimming with her, since Seiya had refused to swim because she thought that proper ladies should not be engaged in such avid activities.

As the girl wandered slowly to where her older brother was silently pondering about his sanity, she realized that he was off in another world and did not notice her approaching him at all, instead, his eyes were intently fixed on the grass squished beneath his feet.

Pan's rosy lips curved into a devious smile as she slowly tiptoed towards the conceiving prince until she was about three feet away from him, the girl then broke into a mad dash and as the prince looked up, she leapt on his back, her weight causing him to topple on to the ground.

"Gee … that wasn't fun … you're not supposed to fall …" Pan frowned, as she stared innocently at the heavily cursing prince.

"What are you? An infant or a princess?" Trunks spat out a mouthful of grass mixed with dirt, "Do you not know that bodily contact with elders is extremely impolite and unladylike?"

"Yeah, I know that." Smiled the princess, still sitting on the annoyed prince's back, "But I'm bored, so, how 'bout you giving me a piggyback ride?"

"I beg your pardon?" Asked the prince who was still muttering low swears at his supposedly little sister.

"You know … a piggyback ride … haven't you ever heard of one?" Pan asked curiously.

"No, I have not."

"Oh … you poor deprived person …" Sniffed the girl, "Well … see, you hafta kinda stand up to give me a piggyback ride … it's quite simple, I sit on your back while you carry me around!"

"And what purpose would come out of this activity?" 

"None for you, 'cept maybe a sore back, but it'll be fun for me." Pan grinned, "C'mon, please?"

"No, it is quite alright, get off of me now." Growled the man.

"Please?" 

"No. Please get off of me." 

"Pretty please?" Pleaded the teenage girl.

"No."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty please?" Pan begged.

"I do not wish to repeat myself once again," Trunks lifted his head to look at the princess, "Get off of me."

Pan sighed and loosened her grip, she blinked a few times and muttered, "You're so mean … can't you just do this one little thing for me?"

            Trunks growled and was just about to repeat himself once again, until he noticed the girl's sad expression, and he felt himself frown without her constant smiling, she did have the brightest smile … and he was possibly going to kill her father soon … "Oh, alright, but just this once."

            Pan grinned and gave the prince a huge hug, "Yay! Thanks so much!"

            Trunks was just about to comment how ladies should not involve in inappropriate bodily contact with males, when he decided that he should stop sounding like her father for once.    
            

_And besides, he didn't mind all that much._

"Where do you wish to go, princess?" Trunks asked, while standing up so suddenly that Pan almost fell over.

The princess thought for a brief second before answering, "To the lake!"

"Where is this lake?"

Pan pointed to beyond a dense area of forests, and even further beyond those, were mountains, "There."

"I am supposedly going to carry you all the way beyond those forests to reach a lake for no apparent reason at all?"

"You supposed right." Nodded the girl.

Trunks awkwardly tried to move while supporting the girl on his back, but to do so without her falling on the ground meant he would have to crouch over, and he always walked as straight as a pole, eyes not cast straight ahead, but rather upwards since his head was always held up high. He always walked as steady as a rock, and prince-like, no, rather **_king_**-like, and he was not about to demean himself merely for a girl's enjoyment. However, he had agreed to give the princess -whatever it was called – ride, and he was not going to back out on his word.

But perhaps they could have a compromise.

Pan suddenly was jerked forward as the prince's strong arms reached around her waist and positioned her **_in _**his arms rather than in that strange position on his back. "What are you doing?" Protested the princess.

"This is much easier, I would not have to lower my back." Explained Trunks, "And besides, this is how _proper _ladies are carried."

"Proper?" Pan quirked an eyebrow, "You mean … like … damsels in distress, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Trunks nodded, "Ladies who are captured by enemies and locked up and then saved by a handsome and charming prince." He paused to let the full affect of his words sink in.

"Surely you are not implying that **you **are handsome and charming … are you?" The teen asked puzzledly.

"Why not?"

"Would you like me to name all your faults?" Pan smiled angelically.

"No thank you, I have a feeling that your opinions aren't very relevant."

"What do you mean?" Asked the princess.

"Never mind." Trunks shook his head and decided that he did not want to be involved in a debate with the princess. Instead, he started to rise in the air until he was well off the ground with the surprised girl in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Asked Pan as she realized how far they were off the ground, she clung on to his neck and screamed, "I'm gonna fall!"

"It is simply easier to fly to our destination than to walk, don't you think, princess?" Trunks smirked at the terrified girl, "And you can fly also, remember?"

"Oh … right." Pan's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she stopped choking the prince, "I forgot."

"Of course you did. It's quite all right, I'm quite used to women flustering over me." Another smirk was plastered over the prince's flawless face. "You are quite lucky to be my little sister, aren't you?"

Pan narrowed her eyes, "You mean you're lucky to be **_my _**big bro, it you were anyone else, I'd probably have beat you up by now."

"Oh my, how horribly terrifying of you, princess." The prince rolled his eyes and spat with sarcasm, before the girl could protest, he raised the girl closer to him, "Perhaps you should hold on to my neck once more, we will be flying quite quickly, and if you were hurt in anyway, your father would probably behead me."

The girl growled, "Fine, just no more _damsels in distress _talks."

"Agreed."

Pan sighed and loosely wrapped her arms around the prince's neck, "How'd I get from a piggyback ride to being carried?" She quietly asked herself.

"Do not worry, princess, even if you don't intend it, you are just a girl, and girls do find me irresistible, so it's probably not your fault if you are lusting over me." The prince said with a smirk.

"I guess you're right." Pan sighed once more, "There is something about you that makes me want to strangle you and throw you to the dogs to feed on, now, if you don't shut up and fly right, I'm gonna have to choke you to death."

"Like you ever could."

"Or …" Pan added with a small smile, "I could always tell my daddy that you were being mean to me and touching me."

"I am not!" Protested the prince.

"What are you doing now, eh?" Pan grinned and snuggled up to the prince, "Now, fly properly."

Trunks muttered something about _unladylike behaviour_ but complied obediently and took off towards the forests while wondering how he could basically be in control with a whole country of women but so helpless with a single child. But then he corrected himself, _is she really a child? She did have a childlike sense of  curiosity, but there was also something about her that he didn't understand, like, she was all one big secret. Like a book that he was only observing the cover to. And a magical spell was cast on the book that didn't allow him to flip to the ending of the book, but simply enjoy each page at a time. The problem now was getting to the first page …_

The wind blew from the northeast, and while the girl's face was buried within the depths of his chest, and the prince just noticed that Pan's hair wasn't in her usual ponytail, but rather was floating up in different directions from the wind. Somehow Trunks had the image of the Greek Goddess Artemis appear in his head, the goddess of wild things and the moon. A strand of hair flew up and whipped him across the face, and Trunks had the strangest idea that Pan somehow meant to do that, he grinned in spite of himself, the crazy girl probably meant to cut him or something. And then another strange thought trailed up to that head of hers.

_Her hair smells extremely nice … like summer._

 No, not the usual flowery scent that girls had in their hair, but rather, a clean and refreshing smell, one that didn't make him want to choke, it was rather, sort of … like a natural smell, the clean air that one would receive while walking through a pine forest, or in a meadow of dandelions and rabbits, or in a meadow during the amidst of summer, or something delightful of the sort. The scent somehow allured him and he, without realizing it, had lowered his head so that it was positioned directly on top of hers. And the smell strengthened, a strong scent of cleanliness. Somehow, Trunks had never thought of Pan as the clean type, but he guessed he was wrong.

_Or perhaps the cover of the book was finally lifted …_

"What are you doing?" Pan asked the prince, mildly startled.

"What?" Trunks snapped back to reality and stared at the girl with a dumbfolded expression on his face, "I … huh?"

"You better not drop me." Pan growled, "And anyways, we're pretty close to the lake, you can land and we can probably walk the rest of the way."

"Oh … right …" Trunks shook his head and slowly descended upon a small hill, and loosened his grip on a grumbling Pan.

"That was the worst piggyback ride I've ever had."

Trunks shook his head a few times and tried to focus on the grass beneath his feet, _what exactly **was **he doing?_

"Are you alright?" Asked the girl with concern in her voice.

"Yes, of course, just fine, never been better." Stuttered the prince, "Let's get going to this lake, shall we?"

"What a weirdo." Pan muttered as she started to walk down the slope. "You gonna come to the lake or just stand there staring at your toes?"

Awkwardly, the prince followed the princess down the hill, looking around and observing his surroundings, wondering if this was one of Pan's many tricks, she did seem to love pushing him into bodies of water. He needed to be on his guard, he had no intentions of soaking his hair that day. Slowly, he approached the glistening body of water, wondering how many lakes there actually were in the Son Kingdom. Perhaps he should brush up on his geography soon. 

"Hey, you know how to swim?" Pan asked as she tugged on her tunic, pulling it roughly over her head.

"Of course I know how to swim, I am the prince of - what are you doing?" Trunks stopped abruptly as he watched Pan throw her tunic on the ground, he watched how her bare arms untied her boots and realized that she was wearing a very tight and very small top made out of some sort of elastic material.

"I'm going swimming, surely you don't suggest that I go swimming with my clothes on, do you?" Pan asked as she tossed her shoes on the grass beside her tunic, "Or is that what people in your country do?"

"No, no, of course not." Trunks couldn't help but notice that Pan had a very finely toned stomach, guess all her training paid off, after all. 

"You just gonna stare at me change or are you gonna turn around?" Pan asked with what Trunks believed to be a playful tone in her voice. 

            His cheeks turned crimson as he realized that he had been staring at her, "Oh, of course." He turned around and instead, fastened his gaze on the clouds drifting lazily by. She was one of the few people that could make him embarrassed at all, and in fact, she seemed to insult him quite often. But then again, she was often the one putting a smile on his face, so he didn't really understand her at all. How could a girl whom threatens to squash him like a bug make him smile so often? But then again, she was a girl of extreme nature, she never just did anything for the sake of doing it and getting it over with, for her, it's either do it with flare, or don't do it at all.

            "Hey, Trunks." Pan called out, "You gonna come swim also?"

            "No thank you, I'm quite content being dry." Replied the prince matter-of-factly.

            "Suit yourself." Pan wadded into the water until she was about shoulder-deep, she turned around and asked again, "Water's great, you know."

            Trunks glanced enviously at the sparkling aquamarine water and realized that he did want to be in the lake at that moment. Not necessarily swimming, but just the concept of **being **in the water right now intrigued him. Of course, he wasn't about to admit that he had changed in his mind, so instead, he cocked his head sideways and tried to imagine something other than the refreshingly cool water.

            "Oh, don't be a bore! I wanna race you!" Pan folded her arms across her chest, "I bet I can swim faster than you!"

            "Since you're probably going to end up using some kind of force to make me go into the water, I might as well comply now to save myself from further annoyance." Trunks glanced down at his attire and decided that he wanted to return to King Gohan slightly presentable, and started by taking off his heavy boots.

            "Wow, you've got small feet, you know." Pan watched with curiosity as the prince threw his boots near Pan's pile of clothing.

            "I do not." Trunks glanced at his feet and added, "You only say that because you have large feet."

            "No, I don't!" Pan argued and raised a foot out of the water, "See? I don't have bigger feet than you."

            "Well, I do not have small feet, I have manly feet." Trunks corrected as he started to unbutton his own tunic.

            Pan turned around and swam further in the lake, enjoying the water splashing against her legs, when she realized that Trunks was going to be swimming with her, she decided that she might want to put some clothing on, after all, but when she heart a splashing sound behind her, she knew that it was a bit too late to request that he hand her her clothes. There was something about swimming naked that made her feel uncomfortable.

            Well, technically, the whole concept was awkward. 

            "I guess I'll race you." Pan said casually as she turned back around.

            "Yeah, I guess so." Trunks didn't look anymore comfortable than she did as he wadded slowly deeper in the lake, the upper half of his torso was still visible, and the sunlight reflecting from the water's surface just made him look very finely tanned.

            _And very finely built. _Pan added quietly to herself, the only person that she had seen with as much muscle as him was her father, and he trained quite a fair bit each day. Perhaps she shouldn't be so hasty in challenging him to a spar. He looks like he could do some heavy damage.

            "Okay, well, then, I'll count. Ready! Set!" Pan paused, watching as the prince lowered his body entirely into the water, she giggled as she took off for the opposite shore, yelling only when she was a well fifteen feet behind her, "**Go!**"

            She had expected him to complain about him cheating, but surprisingly, all she heard were quiet splashes of water as she moved quickly through the water. When she looked behind her again, she was surprised to see his body almost on par with her own. His powerful arms and legs stroking through the water in slow yet well-consistent strokes. Pan looked in front of her to see that they were nearing the opposite shore, she couldn't let him beat her! She would never hear the end of it! As she tried desperately to regain her edge in the race, fate had it that his hand reached the shore a split second before her own.

            "No fair! You cheated!" Pan yelled as soon as she realized that she had lost.

            "Actually, you started ahead of me, so technically, you were the one who cheated." Trunks pointed out as he tried hard not to gasp for breath. He had to actually **_try _**to beat her. He used up quite a fair amount of his strength trying to catch up to her in the water, but even then, her swimming abilities were not something to be ashamed of. Even though she didn't have nearly as much muscle as he did, she did have quite a bit of flexibility that allowed those arms and legs to move however they pleased. Not that he would tell her that, though.

            "You cheated!" Pan screamed angrily, not quite paying attention to his previous words.

            "I most certainly did not!" Protested the prince, surprise evident in his eyes.

            "Did too!"

            "Did not!"

            "Did too!"

            "Not! Not! Not!"

            "Too-too-too!" Pan yelled.  
            "You sound either like a locomotive or a - " Trunks stopped in mid sentence, "You know, I have the strangest feeling that we have had this conversation before."

            "We did? When?" Asked the princess.

            "I am not sure, I just felt like we have said the same things before." Trunks splashed around a bit in the water before stopping to look at Pan again.

            "Oh, like déjà vu?" 

            "Possibly." Trunks shrugged as he could not remember when they had this conversation and smiled at the puzzled princess, "Race you back."

            "You're on!"

            "Well, I will count this time." Trunks smirked to himself as he lowered his body into the water, "On your mark! Get set!"            

            Without saying the final word, the prince raced away, his arms and legs hitting the water with powerful strokes as he sailed swiftly across the water. He only stopped for a second to grin when he heard his companion yell angrily.

            "Hey! Come back here, you cheater!" 

            _Perhaps his time spent in the Son Kingdom wouldn't be so horrible after all …_

                                                                  **_End of Chapter 3_**

****

****

**              Well … er … guess I lied a bit saying that there was going to be no T/P there, Trunks had a bit of an accident carrying Pan, eh? ^ ~ Okay, well, how was that chappie? Complicated? Confusing? Long? Well, at least it wasn't as long as the last chapter, but long all the same. But figuring that you have all been waiting so long for this chappie, it really doesn't mean too much for this to be so long.**

**               Erm … I'd appreciate any comments that you have regarding this chappie, sorry I took so long getting it out, I was ¾ done two weeks ago, I just didn't know how I'd finish it up, so I got sorta stuck. There will be even more T/P moments in the next chappie ^^ *hears cheering* but even more action and twists. I'm sure you're all wondering what Goten is going to do about the sword. And whether Trunks will kill King Gohan.**

**            Vegeta: No they're not … what are you talking about, you moron?**

**             Shush, Veggie, well, whatever, you'll find out soon enough, won't you?**

**             Remember, all comments are greatly appreciated!**

_-Juunanagou4ever_****


End file.
